Steel, Braun, Baldwin Introduce Solutions to Lower Health Care Costs

WASHINGTON, May 9 -- Rep. Michelle Steel, R-California, issued the following news release on May 8, 2023:

Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced a bicameral bill to promote transparency in health care, crack down on anti-competitive practices, and remove restrictions preventing competition in health care markets.

The "Healthy Competition for Better Care Act" enables more group health plans and health insurance issuers to enter into agreements with providers that guide enrollees to high-value providers and provide incentives to encourage enrollees to seek higher-quality, lower cost care.

"Health care costs have steadily risen for decades, leaving millions of Californians in crippling medical debt," said Rep. Steel. "This legislation addresses the root cause of the issue by ensuring the free market is empowered to naturally bring down prices. No longer will hospitals be allowed to box out competitors and hide prices from patients. I urge my colleagues to join me in protecting patients and small businesses and ensuring every American can find the care they need at a fair price."

"Competition is the key to creating a competitive market that increases options and transparency, while driving down costs which ultimately benefits consumers. The entire health care industry should be encouraging all types of natural, healthy competition to improve the quality of care received by Americans in every state," said Senator Braun.

"No American should go broke to afford the health care they need. For too long, we have seen a lack of competition in our health insurance marketplace drive up costs for patients and limit their affordable options," said Senator Baldwin. "Our legislation will crack down on big health system's anti-competitive practices to increase transparency, cut costs, and connect more Wisconsinites with the quality care they need."

"America's families should not be struggling under mountains of medical debt just so big health care corporations and CEOs can bring in skyrocketing profits, salaries and bonuses." said Sophia Tripoli, Senior Director for Health Policy at Families USA. "Families USA applauds Representative Steel for introducing the Healthy Competition for Better Care Act, which is an important step toward restoring competitive health care markets and ensuring that our health care system is designed to produce the highest quality care for the lowest possible cost to people and families. We urge Congress to advance this important legislation without delay."

"On behalf of The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), representing the largest employers in the country as sponsors of employee benefit plans for their nationwide workforces, thank you for introducing the Healthy Competition for Better Care Act. This bill promotes competition and reduces consolidation within the health care system - core tenets to achieving health care affordability for employers, workers, and their families. ERIC strongly supports this bill and thanks Representative Steel for her leadership on this issue," said ERISA Industry Committee President and CEO James Gelfand.

"The only way to lower health care costs effectively is by addressing the root causes of rising prices - including anti-competitive contracting that stifle choice and competition, said Ilyse Schuman, American Benefits Council, senior vice president, health policy. "The bill introduced today by Rep. Steel will help lower costs by promoting competition in the health care market and employer innovations that prioritize high-value care. We applaud [them] for [their] leadership and urge Congress to pass this legislation."

The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers supports The Healthy Competition for Better Care Act, which encourages market competition, promote patients' choice of providers, and ensures employers are able to reap the benefits of healthcare transparency," said Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers President Joel Wood.

"Anti-competitive practices of healthcare providers are significantly increasing healthcare costs for small business owners, their employees and the self-employed. This is why we support the 'Healthy Competition for Better Care Act' that would prohibit large health systems from limiting access to higher-quality, lower-cost care," said John Arensmeyer, Founder & CEO, Small Business Majority. "Our research shows that access to quality and affordable healthcare is consistently a top concern for small businesses. But for too long, healthcare providers have used their monopolistic power to limit consumer choice and drive up prices. The small business community needs policymakers to step-in to ensure a level playing field. We urge Congress to advance this legislation without delay and help to ensure that small business owners can obtain affordable coverage for their business and employees."

Background

The legislation was previously passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in 2019. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), policies that would ban these contracting terms would reduce premiums in the private insurance market and increase federal revenues by $1.1 Billion.

The "Healthy Competition for Better Care Act" will:

* Allow discounts or incentives for enrollees who choose high-quality and low-cost providers.

* Allow insurers and employers to contract with the right hospitals and providers for their patients, without requirements to enter into additional contracts with other affiliated providers or hospitals.

* Allow health insurance issuers to negotiate their own rates with other providers who are not party to the contract of the provider involved.

* Allow hospitals and issuers to freely negotiate prices, without requirements to pay higher amounts for items or services than other issuers have agreed to. The bill includes exceptions for certain group model issuers, including health maintenance organizations, and value-based network arrangement, such as an exclusive provider network or accountable care organization.

Read the full text of the legislation here (https://steel.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/steel.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/steel_022_xml.pdf).

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Original text here: https://steel.house.gov/media/press-releases/steel-braun-baldwin-introduce-solutions-lower-health-care-costs