SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The Bay Area Council today released its “Roadmap to a High-Value Health System ,” which outlines a series of concrete strategies for leveraging California’s power as an innovator to control rising healthcare costs for business and individuals. The Roadmap will serve as the foundation for the Council’s ongoing engagement with healthcare reform implementation, value-based healthcare purchasing by Bay Area businesses, and health system transformation.
“Reigning in rapidly rising healthcare costs is critical for maintaining the competitive edge of Bay Area and California businesses in our global economy,” said Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council. “We have the intellectual and innovation power to level the playing field on healthcare costs and free businesses to compete more aggressively on the merits of their products and services. That’s how the Bay Area and California are going to maintain that competitive edge and this Roadmap shows us how we can get there.”
Sean Randolph, President of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, explains that, “Our goal is to produce thorough fact-based analyses that will improve public understanding of issues that are critical to the economy and that will identify strategies to meet key economic goals. The quality and affordability of health care is an issue that directly impacts business, citizens and governments at every level.”
“The roadmap is aimed at the state’s business leaders who have an essential role in shaping the vision of a high-value health system, mapping it out, and creating systems for measuring progress toward our goals,” said Greg Adams, President, Northern California, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan & Hospitals and chair of the Council’s Healthcare Committee. “This report lays out the specific actions by healthcare providers, insurers, businesses, governments, and individuals that will improve affordability and access to high quality care in California.”
About the Bay Area Council
The Bay Area Council is a business-sponsored, public-policy advocacy organization for the nine-county Bay Area. The Council proactively advocates for a strong economy, a vital business environment, and a better quality of life for everyone who lives here. Founded in 1945, the Bay Area Council is widely respected by elected officials, policy makers and other civic leaders as the voice of Bay Area business. Today, approximately 275 of the largest employers in the region support the Bay Area Council and offer their CEO or top executive as a member. Our members employ more than 4.43 million workers and have revenues of $1.94 trillion, worldwide. http://www.bayareacouncil.org/index.php
About the Bay Area Council Economic Institute
The Bay Area Council Economic Institute-a public-private partnership of business with labor, government and higher education-works to support the economic vitality and competitiveness of California and the Bay Area. Its work builds on the twenty-year record of fact-based economic analysis and policy leadership of the Bay Area Economic Forum, which merged with the Bay Area Council in January 2008. http://www.bayareaeconomy.org/
