06.09.2021 / Reporters Note
Reporters Note – Consumers, Employers, and Small Business Owners are United for Health, Want Congress to Take Action
MEDIA AVAILABILITY – to speak with leaders from Families USA, Purchaser Business Group on Health, and Small Business Majority about their organization’s health care polls, contact Lisa Holland, lholland@familiesusa.org.
Consumers, Employers, and Small Business Owners are
United for Health, Want Congress to Take Action
Seventy-five percent of voters said health care should be a top or high priority for President Biden and Congress this year. Eighty-five percent of executive leaders said the government will be required to play a greater role in providing health care coverage and containing costs in the next five-to-10 years; 83% said such actions would be better for their business, and 86% said these actions would be better for their employees. And accessing health insurance has been a top barrier for small businesses during COVID-19—more than 1 in 3 (34%) say it’s a challenge getting health insurance coverage for themselves and their employees.
Those polling results — from Families USA, Purchaser Business Group on Health (PBGH), and Small Business Majority (SBM), respectively — show widespread support among various stakeholders for bold Congressional action on health care reform. The results were highlighted on June 8 at a roundtable discussion, United for Health: A Dialogue on Health Reform.
During the discussion, Frederick Isasi (Families USA), Elizabeth Mitchell (PBGH), and John Arensmeyer (SBM) acknowledged they represent very diverse constituencies but emphasized that these groups have something in common: they are all customers of a health care system that needs improvement. And that common ground is why there is universal agreement on the need for Congress to prioritize health care reform as part of recovery legislation.
Isasi, Mitchell, and Arensmeyer agreed that it takes such alliances of people from different backgrounds and political affiliations to inspire changes to the classic distortions and abuses that have plagued the health care system for years.
And this alliance of consumers, employers, and small business owners has spoken – they think health and health care should be at the top of the list. No one in this country should ever have to worry that they can’t afford health care or choose between filling a prescription and paying their rent or mortgage. The ball is now in Congress’s court to make sure families never have to make that impossible choice.
To watch the event, go here.
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