Yesterday our president Kate Putnam was interviewed on Fox Business News about healthcare  reform in Massachusetts and its impact on small businesses.   Here is the link to her appearance. http://video.foxbusiness.com/7521480/health-care-reforms-impact-on-small-busines/?category_id=39cd07fef0cf91993cc2914150877c3d89020568

Here are her elaborations on the topic of her appearance.

I find the topic of healthcare reform scary, because someone’s ox has to be gored to fund  universal coverage. That we need to do it is almost a foregone conclusion. As the only developed country without universal coverage, the United States offers the best of care and sometimes provides the worst of care. To me, the most telling point was the sound bite about how many people file bankruptcy over their medical bills. From a selfish perspective, in Massachusetts this coverage is mandated and it makes Package Machinery less cost competitive with those companies in other states who do not offer it or those who compete with us from countries where it is government sponsored. Our biggest competitors are from those countries.

There is room to cut costs in health care. It is not simple or easy but it is necessary. Electronic medical records, standardization and automation of billing codes, elimination of repetitive or medically-unnnecessary testing, rigorous quality control, lean practices in healthcare, a medical home since most of us need an expert to to guide us in complex medical decisions – these are all simple ways to get us better medical care without breaking our businesses and significantly increasing our taxes.

Perhaps themost telling point of all comes from Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation  in the Boston Globe last week regarding universal coverage.

“Between fiscal 2006 and 2010, the annual incremental cost from the state budget is less than $100 million, a modest sum for this historic achievement. This cost is very much in line with estimates that were made when the bill was passed.

From a base of $1.04 billion in fiscal 2006, the state is projected to spend $1.75 billion on healthcare reform in fiscal 2010, an increase of about $700 miillion, half of which is supported by federal reimbursements. The $350 million state share translates into an average yearly increase of only $88 million.” Remember Massachusetts has more than 97% universal coverage for medical care and with no formal cost control yet. We got that coverage at the cost we expected. Now it is time to extend that coverage to all US residents and to reduce the cost while maintaining or improving the quality of  care.

To accomplish cost control we will need more family practice doctors and MDs who can act as the facilitator between individuals and the medical treatment they need. We will need to fund  electronic medical records, encourage lean practice and strict quality controls.

As I said on Fox Business News yesterday, we should not be funding this stupidly – on the backs of struggling or growing small businesses who are taxed at the individual rate even when the individual shareholder is not receiving the profits.  We should find a way that distributes the burden equitably among all employers so that employees can have similar healthcare coverage wherever they choose to work.

We must also accept our responsibility to take better care of ourselves through diet and exercise. So now I am going for a walk to clear my head and help my heart.

I welcome your feedback.

Kate