Many of the proposed healthcare reforms for small businesses and their employees referred to in President Obama’s recent speech to Congress are already available for employers to significantly improve what’s largely considered an expensive and difficult process for all involved.

While the final outcome of proposed legislation is unknown, it’s clear the government wants employers to remain in the ‘benefits business,’ even though, as the President noted in his speech, any reforms, when eventually passed by Congress, could possibly take up to four years to implement. Businesses need relief today and their employees can’t wait to have benefits options that are both affordable and consistent with their needs. This is absolutely doable without waiting for government-driven reforms.”

Competition and Choice

As President Obama made clear, competition and choice drive down costs. This truth holds for healthcare benefits, as the consumer-driven healthcare movement has demonstrated. A consumer-driven model is one in which the end-users – employees – self-select the benefits that best meet their individual needs. The hurdle is selection. For choice to be effective, employees need real options, including low premium, high-deductible health plans coupled with a health savings account (HSA), along with tools that enable them to effectively choose and manage their benefits.

Health Insurance Exchange

One cornerstone of Obama’s healthcare reform plan is an exchange where the insurance choices are laid out and made clear. Making present-time decisions about future risks is a complex and difficult task, but we already have decision-making support in the form of an online Benefits Exchange that makes it easy for employees to choose the healthcare and other insurance they need from the diverse options available in a comprehensive insurance marketplace.

Pooling Risk

The President spoke about pooling risk and giving small business owners the leverage and buying power of larger businesses. This is not a new idea. We have that today with forward-looking chambers of commerce that innovate and expand health benefits and other insurance offered to their members. Chambers see sharp growth in their membership when they offer consumer-centric benefits programs, and insurance carriers are embracing this approach as a means of better serving their small business customers.

Insurance Carrier Responsibility and Accountability

The plan the President laid out also calls for greater responsibility and accountability on the part of insurance carriers. The solution here is effective consumer advocacy, giving the consumer a voice in this complex business with knowledgeable insurance professionals who represent the consumer, chase their claims and see their issues through to resolution. Typically, we find the problem is not greed and avarice on the part of insurance carriers, but broken systems and convoluted processes.

Small business in America needs healthcare reform today. And many of the measures being considered in the reform bill are already in place.

Ashok Subramanian
President, Liazon Corporation