Principles & Priorities
Our Principles
1. Making health care more affordable for consumers, employers, and taxpayers is an economic and societal imperative.
To do this, we must address the central driver of high health care costs for the privately insured — the high prices being charged for care — by increasing choices for consumers and purchasers, and limiting anti-competitive behavior to lower prices.
2. Market failures must be directly addressed.
There is insufficient competition on price and quality in many health care markets where provider markets are highly consolidated. Dominant providers and health systems have the ability to demand high prices, and there is an imbalance in the information available to consumers. It is essential that action is taken where markets have failed to restore and increase competition and to lower prices.
3. We need more complete and transparent information on pricing.
In order for families, purchasers, and policymakers to understand and fix the problem of high health care prices with common-sense solutions that work, we need more complete and transparent information on price, quality, and other aspects of our health care system.
4. We must address high health care prices in a way that directs resources where they are most needed across the health care system.
A comprehensive solution to address high health care costs must ultimately create a more accessible, equitable, and sustainable system that provides high-quality affordable care.
Our Priorities
Utilize the diverse collaborative efforts among members to raise awareness about exactly why health care prices are so high.
Promote action to protect consumers and employers from predatory health care pricing.
Advance policies that prevent providers, manufacturers and hospitals from engaging in business tactics that stifle competition that lead to higher prices.