Medicaid reform equals opportunity

Like many small-business owners in Rhode Island, I care deeply about my workers and feel responsible for ensuring they have the tools and support they need to achieve their full potential.

I want to help them stay healthy – not only because it supports my business bottom line when my employees are productive, but also because their well-being and that of their families matters to me.

The unfortunate reality is that for years, rising health care costs have caused rising stress levels among small-business owners like me who are trying to do the right thing.

Premium increases happen every year no matter how well my business does – and for the last two decades-plus, my health care costs have risen at an unsustainable and unpredictable rate that far outpaces any amount that I can raise my prices.

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The Affordable Care Act has done a little to level the playing field across employers by requiring all companies providing insurance to offer decent plans with a baseline set of essential health benefits. That’s helped relieve some of the stress business owners have faced in keeping up with competitors who are spending less overall on benefits.

But the Affordable Care Act and the state’s process of reviewing health insurance rate increases can only go so far in fixing the deep, systemic challenges facing our health care system.

A recent report issued by state health officials shows that roughly 60 percent of emergency room visits could have been prevented by keeping people healthier earlier on, so they don’t wind up needing costly care.

We are spending too much treating people after they get sick, and not investing enough to build healthier communities. This drives up costs for everybody – businesses, taxpayers and community members.

That’s why I am cautiously optimistic about the changes that the Raimondo administration began one year ago to address the challenges within our publicly funded health care system.

At the time, Medicaid was eating up an untenable 30 cents of every state dollar. Through a broad package of reforms, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo achieved $70 million in state Medicaid savings without cutting eligibility or reducing benefits for the one in four Rhode Islanders enrolled in the program.

Business owners stand to benefit greatly from such initiatives. We can all agree that when we keep people healthier, we create a more productive workforce and help manage the rising cost of care. We also free up funds to invest in other economic-development priorities, like hiring and infrastructure that businesses need to grow.

It just makes sense that by reining in spending and shifting the entire health care system toward a structure that pays for better outcomes and better, more coordinated care, Rhode Island is setting conditions that foster a greater level of predictability in health care spending for everyone. •

Roland J. Legare is the president of R&R Machine Industries of North Smithfield.

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