For Immediate Release
Washington, DC – The following statement should be attributed to Annette Guarisco Fildes, president and CEO, The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC):
“Once again the National Business Group on Health (NBGH) gets to the heart of the matter with its annual Large Employers’ Health Care Strategy and Plan Design Survey.
More than 180 million Americans receive health insurance through their employer, making employers the largest single provider of health insurance in the nation. Employers typically pay 80 percent of employee health care coverage and want to make sure their employees receive the best care and at the lowest cost.
On behalf of our large employer member companies that sponsor health plans for millions of employees, retirees, and their families, ERIC urges Congress and the Administration to end the surprise medical billing crisis, inject transparency into the health care system, promote legislation that would clear the way for greater use of value-based purchasing agreements, lower the cost of prescription drugs such as to ban abusive use of coupons and third-party payment schemes, incentivize medical providers’ use of point-of-prescribing and real-time benefits tools, and provide first-dollar coverage within a high-deductible health plan for medications.
State governments play a key role regarding health care access, quality, and costs. Innovation as a response to rising health care costs has long been a space in which employers thrive. Large employers have been on the forefront of virtual care solutions by providing access to telehealth providers in an array of practice areas. Since 2015, ERIC has been working to remove the patchwork of local and state laws that create barriers to employees being able to access care when and where they needed it. While great progress has been made, there are still several states that must remove those legislative and regulatory barriers and allow residents access to care in a way that best fits their needs.”