In the mid-’90s, when Bill Clinton looked to reform American health care, American business swung in with a vengeance to help kill the initiative. Now, with health care costs threatening to swamp major corporations, some big business is singing a different tune.

In California, Fortune 500 business leaders are shouting “crisis” and pushing governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to insure everyone, quick. From Sacramento, to Michigan’s GM, to Massachusetts and beyond, the business heat is on.

This hour On Point: Big business shouts “health care emergency” and begs for change.

Quotes from the Show:

“We don’t want to see socialized medicine. We got to figure out the cost [of healthcare].” Christopher Lischewski

“Insurance companies are not responsible for the rising costs. … We need to maintain the market-based healthcare system. That’s not to say people shouldn’t be eligible for Medicaid or some form of government subsidies ….” Ed Gillespie

“Business in Massachusetts – those that don’t offer health insurance- are only required to pay 295 dollars per employee per year.” Robert Blendon

“The issue of tort reform is an important one. The tort system is a scandal primarily because 95 percent of the victims of medical negligence never recover anything.” Henry Aaron

Guests:

Jordan Rau, reporter for the Los Angeles Times

Henry Aaron, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of “Can We Say No?: The Challenge of Rationing Health Care”

Christopher Lischewski, CEO of Bumble Bee Foods, which has joined the Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform.;
Ed Gillespie, founder and co-chairman of Quinn Gillespie & Associates, a public affairs firm, and former chairman of the Republican National Committee.;
Robert Blendon, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health and Director of the Harvard Program on Public Opinion and Health and Social Policy

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