Federal Policy Solutions
Effective markets require healthy competition and transparent information on cost and quality. Unfortunately, these conditions don’t exist in all health care markets. Entrenched interests feed off market failures and use their political muscle to keep the broken status quo in place. If we’re going to rely on competitive market forces to keep prices reasonable, government must step in to make sure that markets are working the way they should. In some areas, however, the market is fundamentally broken, and it is nearly impossible to address costs through competition. In these situations, government needs to step in to limit prices.
As the leading voice of large national employer health care purchasers on public policy, PBGH has a track record of advocating for a market environment of healthy competition and successfully influencing both state and federal policy to enhance, among other priorities, value-based purchasing and the restriction of anti-competitive practices in order to improve affordability and quality.
Resources
The Cost of Provider Consolidation: The Employer’s Perspective
Consumers First
Consumers First has released its administrative and legislative policy agenda.