Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist Examines Potential Impact of Health Care Reform

As an advocacy organization, the Chamber stands encouraged by the meaningful dialogue surrounding responsible health care reform and recognizes that the regional business community provides significant voluntary health benefits to area employees.

To foster dialogue on this timely topic, the Chamber held a forum last month with former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The event was attended by over 200 health care business leaders.

As a Harvard-trained heart transplant surgeon, professor of medicine and business at Vanderbilt, and prolific author, Sen. Frist is regarded as one of the most influential leaders in national health care.

Sen. Frist announced at the event that he believes a liberal version of the health care reform bill will be signed by President Obama in late January.

Although reform is one of the most complex issues facing our nation, the consensus among some of the region’s top leaders in the health care arena is that the current health care system is unsustainable.

Sen. Frist expressed great concern over the cost of health care reform especially considering our country’s current financial crisis.

"Making the situation more challenging is a $12 trillion deficit, which is greater than the last four years combined," said Sen. Frist. "What’s really bad is that it will go up another $9 trillion before health care reform is considered."

The Chamber realizes the critical nature of health care reform and shares the goals of Congress and the Administration to reduce health care costs, improve quality of care, and expand access to the uninsured. While we support these goals, we will closely monitor any mandates being considered by lawmakers that would increase the burden on employers — and their employees — and hinder economic growth.

Comprehensive health care reform should aim at improving quality, affordability, and accessibility without limiting the financial opportunities that employers offer our region.

To read more about the event from Philly.com, click here.

To read member recaps from this event or to submit a comment to our blog, click here.

To view Bill Frist's presentation, click here (PDF).

See FOX 29's interview with Dr. Frist here.