Health Care Action Team Committee Charge

Our businesses continue to see increasing health care premiums every year. Many are forced to make hard choices such as reducing the quality of health insurance they can provide, or making cuts in other benefit programs. VBSR has been advocating for bold reform initiatives since 1992. No other statewide business association has been willing to take this tremendous problem head-on and we can use your help and support to ensure meaningful health care reform as an economic development necessity. The VBSR core health care reform principles include:

• Universal coverage and access
• Cost management to provide accountability and sustainability
• An integrated system of care (wellness, preventive, medical, surgical, emergency, rehabilitative, and behavioral health care must be included).    Promotion of healthy behaviors and prevention
• An equitable funding mechanism that takes into account the contributions already made by business.

Project: Public Policy Action Teams
Goal:  Enhance and improve VBSR public policy advocacy by capitalizing on member knowledge, energy, and access to resources.

Outcome: By the end of October 2007, each action team to report to Public Policy Committee with specific implementation action steps.

Health Care:
General:
People on this action team will develop priorities within this subject area, provide relevant resources and information, recommend changes or updates to policy positions, and assist in advocacy.

Specific:
The short-term charge will be to evaluate the current state of affairs:

• cost of insurance and impact on Vermont businesses
• the competitive disadvantage of providing responsible health care,quality of insurance, under-insured population
• evaluate current state and federal legislation and program implementation,
  
• identify data and information gaps
• make recommendation on next steps for VBSR advocacy for the 2008 legislative session including the development of specific legislative initiatives and strategies to meet VBSR goals.

Deliverable:
By the end of October, team to report to Public Policy Committee with specific implementation action steps.