President Obama Needs to Take Case for Healthcare Reform Directly to Employers

There's been lots of talk that President Obama should have the courage to pull his healthcare bill away from the lobby-taintedCongress and pitch his case for reform directly to the American public. I disagree. If he takes it to the people, amidst the barrage of negative advertising funded by the insurance industry and big PHarma, perhaps they'll contact their elected representatives. But, by then,the lobbying juggernaught of the anti-reformers will have negated whatever positive effect that outraged public sentiment might otherwise have had on members of Congress.

No, the President should take his case to American employers. They’re the ones who’ve been paying the escalating tab of medical costs through their double-digit annual premium increases over the past ten years. If corporate CEOs and CFOs don’t already know it, Mr. Obama could remind them of how private insurance companies, as managed care middlemen, have built huge profits at the expense of American employers, while offering nothing in the way of true cooperation to lower costs or provide better service. The President could also remind them that every contract renewal signed by employers (whether they have any choice or not) is sending the clear message to the insurance companies: “Keep up the bad work.”

Employers that have been beaten-up by health insurance companies (are there any who haven’t?) are really the most powerful entity in the entire healthcare reform debate. They hold the true purse-strings. Imagine the impact of hundreds or thousands of major employers canceling their agreements with insurance companies and contracting with medical providers, either directly or through a public option. There are a handful of major employers out there right now who’ve eliminated the insurance company managed care middlemen to deal directly with doctors and hospitals. The results, in terms of lower costs, fewer administrative hassles, and higher satisfaction among patients and providers have been astounding. Unfortunately, however, those results have been largely overlooked. Seems most employers were too busy buying into new illusory savings alternatives offered by their insurance companies. Such as consumer-driven health plans and other ruses that simply shifted escalating costs onto the backs of employees, and did little to mitigate the long-term trend of rising premiums.

Demand by employers for an alternative to private insurance companies is key to the debate and something the President should focus on first. True, the lobbyists will have their way with Congress and the insurance industry will its way with the American public. But if major U.S. employers really are mad as hell and aren’t gonna take it anymore, they’ll choose not to buy what the insurance industry is selling and demand other options.