Health Care Costs Put U.S. Workers and Employers at a Significant Disadvantage Compared With Global Competitors

by the Business Roundtable

According to the Business Roundtable Health Care Value Comparability Study, a new measure of the “value” (cost and performance) of the U.S. health care system relative to our competitors’ systems on a weighted scale, the workers and employers of the United States face a 23 percent “value gap” relative to five leading economic competitors – Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France (the “G-5 group”) – and a 46 percent “value gap” compared with emerging competitors Brazil, India and China (“the BIC group”). What does this “value gap“ mean for our ability to compete in the international marketplace?

Health Care Value and Global Competitiveness

In many important respects, the American health care system is among the best in the world. When it comes to scientific advances, medical technology and the quality of our best doctors and medical institutions, the United States is without peer. But this country’s health care system, in its average performance, is becoming increasingly expensive and burdensome to businesses and families – costs that, without some restructuring of the system, will put the benefits of this amazing medical expertise beyond the reach of an increasing number of Americans.

As a group, employers and workers in G-5 countries spend approximately 63 cents for every dollar we spend on health care. The gap is even wider when we look at the BIC group; they spend just 15 cents for every dollar we spend on health care.

Unfortunately, these spiraling costs may be jeopardizing more than just care.

Faced with a deepening economic crisis, it has never been harder for U.S. companies to compete in the global marketplace. While today’s economic challenges span the globe, companies in other countries may be able to better weather the storm, in part because they get a better “value” on health care – they spend less on health care and their systems keep their workforces healthier than America’s.

• As the Business Roundtable Health Care Value Comparability Study shows, our relatively higher spending and lower return on investment creates a health care “value gap” that places U.S. companies at a significant global competitive disadvantage:

• Higher health care spending in the United States diverts resources from investment in new products, equipment, facilities and jobs needed to keep America competitive in the global marketplace.

The higher spending that should lead to a healthier workforce, strengthening our ability to produce and innovate, currently does not.

Our health care system is actually harming our ability to compete effectively in the global economy.