National Business Group on Health Joins Forces With Other Business Associations, Employers and the Federal Government to Promote Health Care Transparency

WASHINGTON, DC -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 17, 2006 -- The National Business Group on Health is pleased to co-host today's National Summit on Health Care Transparency, a key step toward implementing President Bush's Executive Order on Transparency. The Summit focuses on how the business community and the federal government, working jointly as the major purchasers of health care, can lead the way to foster transparency and accountability. Just as the President has pledged to make health care price and quality information from federal health programs available to program participants and the public, employers also embrace the principles of cost and quality transparency, effective health information technology standards, and incentives for consumers and providers.

Highlights of the Summit include a keynote address by Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, remarks by other government representatives and key leaders from the business and health care communities, and the unveiling of an employer toolkit to promote health care transparency when employers purchase health care for their employees, retirees, and dependents. The National Business Group on Health, which represents over 255 large employers, providing health coverage to more than 55 million Americans, is dedicated to solving the health care cost and quality crisis in the U.S. and fully supports and looks forward to continuing to work with the government to implement health care transparency.

The National Business Group on Health has worked to require that all health care providers and facilities should publicly disclose, in a user-friendly format, all relevant information about the relative price, quality, safety, and efficiency of health care as well as any other information that may impact care decisions. The National Business Group on Health's complete position statement on transparency is available at this link: http://www.businessgrouphealth.org/pdfs/transparencypositionstatement.pdf. Also available at the following link is the National Business Group on Health's comprehensive position on national health care reform, in which transparency must play a key part http://www.businessgrouphealth.org/pdfs/nationalhealthcarereformpositionstatement.pdf.

In applauding today's kickoff of the collaborative effort by the government and private purchasers of health care, Helen Darling, President of the National Business Group on Health, said, "Working together we can achieve our goals much faster -- the implementation of interoperable health information technology, price transparency, the right data to measure quality and safety, etc. I am elated that we are joining forces today in the nation's interest to ensure quality, patient safety, efficiency and affordability."

"This is an issue that we can all agree on and which is long, long overdue," said Steven Wojcik, Vice President, Public Policy, of the National Business Group on Health. "We will continue to work with the government and our employers to push for full transparency in health care."

About the National Business Group on Health

The National Business Group on Health, representing over 255 large employers, is the nation's only non-profit organization devoted exclusively to finding innovative and forward-thinking solutions to large employers' most important health care and related benefits issues. The Business Group identifies and shares best practices in health benefits, disability, health and productivity, related paid time off and work/life balance issues. Business Group members, primarily Fortune 500 and large public sector employers, provide health coverage for more than 55 million U.S. workers, retirees and their families.

Contact Information: Contact: Ed Emerman 609-452-5967 Email Contact