NEW SPEAKERS ADDED: Representatives Tom Reed, Josh Gottheimer, Debbie Dingell & More Set to Join P4ESC & CAHC's "Price of Good Health" Summit on January 15th at the Newseum

WASHINGTON, DC: The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) and Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC) announced the latest round of confirmed speakers for its Price of Good Health summit on January 15th at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Newly confirmed speakers for the one-day event, already set to feature HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Axios Health Care Editor Sam Baker and others, include: 

• Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Co-Chair of the Medicare for All Caucus 

• Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY), Co-Chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus

• Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Co-Chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus

• CMS Deputy Administrator & CCIIO Director Randy Pate 

• Justine Handelman, Senior Vice President, Office of Policy & Representation, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

• Jamey Millar, Senior Vice President of Managed Markets and Government Affairs, GlaxoSmithKline
   

A limited number of free tickets remain available to the public. View the full event agenda and reserve tickets here.

The Price of Good Health Summit is an open-press event. Please send media RSVPs to Jonathan.Frank@CAHC.net to help us ensure space for our invited guests. 

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About Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage:
The Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC) is an advocacy alliance for employers of all sizes and the millions of hard-working Americans and their families who rely on employer-sponsored coverage every day. P4ESC is working to ensure that employer-sponsored coverage is strengthened and remains a viable, affordable option for decades to come. Learn more at P4ESC.org or on Twitter at @P4ESC. 

About the Council for Affordable Health Coverage:
The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) is a broad-based alliance with a primary focus: bringing down the cost of health care for all Americans. CAHC promotes policies that lower health costs through increased competition, informed consumers and more choices. Learn more at CAHC.net or on Twitter at @C4AHC.  

HHS Secretary Alex Azar Set to Keynote P4ESC & CAHC's "Price of Good Health" Summit on January 15th at the Newseum

WASHINGTON, DC: The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) and Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC) announced the first round of confirmed speakers for the Price of Good Health summit, held January 15th at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The one-day event will begin with a keynote address from Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar. Others set to address the crowd of 120+ healthcare influencers include Axios Health Care Editor Sam Baker, Families USA Executive Director Frederick Isasi, the National Patient Advocate Foundation's Alan Balch, a bipartisan panel of members of Congress, and additional speakers to be announced.
 

CAHC President Joel White released the following statement: 

“The start of a new Congress presents great opportunities to address the defining kitchen table issue of the 2018 election and a cause of unrest for too many American families: health care. If there has ever been a need to bring policymakers, industry leaders, and other stakeholders together for an honest dialogue about health trends and the impact on patients, providers, and taxpayers - it's now," said CAHC President Joel White. "From the debate over 'Medicare for All,' to battles over prescription drug affordability, to the impact at the ballot box, no area of health spending is off limits for our speakers and invited guests. Our summit will allow attendees to hear from every perspective and gain an early, insider's understanding of the health care agenda for 2019 and beyond." 

Additional confirmed speakers include: 

• Doug Badger, Galen Institute Senior Fellow

• Mary R. Grealy, President, Healthcare Leadership Council

• Mark Wilson, Vice President and Chief Economist, HR Policy Association

• Anne Phelps, US Health Care Policy Leader, Deloitte & Touche 

• JP Wieske, Deputy Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Wisconsin

• Robert Morrow, Associate Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Maryland

• Matt Salo, Executive Director, National Association of Medicaid Directors

• Janet Trautwein, CEO, National Association of Health Underwriters
   

A limited number of free tickets remain available to the public and can be reserved here. 

The Price of Good Health: Health Policies & Politics in the 116th Congress follows CAHC's highly successful November 2017 event in the same series, which featured then-Acting HHS Secretary Eric Hargan, former Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Representatives John Larson (D-CT) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), among others.

The Price of Good Health Summit is an open-press event. Please RSVP to Jonathan.Frank@CAHC.net to ensure space for our invited guests. 

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About Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage:
The Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC) is an advocacy alliance for employers of all sizes and the millions of hard-working Americans and their families who rely on employer-sponsored coverage every day. P4ESC is working to ensure that employer-sponsored coverage is strengthened and remains a viable, affordable option for decades to come. Learn more at P4ESC.org or on Twitter at @P4ESC. 

About the Council for Affordable Health Coverage:
The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) is a broad-based alliance with a primary focus: bringing down the cost of health care for all Americans. CAHC promotes policies that lower health costs through increased competition, informed consumers and more choices. Learn more at CAHC.net or on Twitter at @C4AHC.  

Business Community Forms Advocacy Alliance to Bolster Employer-Sponsored Coverage

Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage launches to protect employee benefits

WASHINGTON, DC (March 20, 2018): Leading employer organizations announced today the formation of the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC), an advocacy alliance to strengthen and protect employment-based health coverage, which insures the lives of over 178 million American workers and their families.

P4ESC will champion solutions to protect these benefits for hardworking Americans from threats, whether in the form of ill-conceived changes to the tax treatment of employer-sponsored coverage or attempts to enact single-payer health care. 
 
"Employer-sponsored insurance has been the bedrock of our nation's healthcare system for decades. Lawmakers must continue to resist the temptation to impose new taxes on employer-sponsored benefits," stated Janet Trautwein, CEO, the National Association of Health Underwriters. “With its mission, the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage is giving employees and employers a powerful voice in Washington. We look forward to working together to protect this vital pathway to health care access,” said Jim Anderson, Vice President, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.
 
The coalition’s efforts will build upon a track record of results-driven policy campaigns that saw among others: the delayed implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandate, codification of flexible operation policies in employer compliance rules, and introduction of bipartisan legislation to reform the law’s full-time definition and reporting requirements.

P4ESC will tackle areas of employee health advocacy including care quality, provider consolidation, rising costs, and health system innovations in conjunction with educational efforts on Capitol Hill and in federal departments and agencies. “Benefits offerings in the employer-sponsored system are as diverse as employers themselves. The Partnership will serve both as a resource for educating policymakers and their staff about the value of employment-based coverage and as an advocate on behalf of our employees and employers,” said P4ESC Executive Director Christine Pollack.

“Employers do care about the cost of coverage, but more importantly, employers care about the quality of coverage offered to our employees and their dependents,” said Neil Trautwein, Vice President, the National Retail Federation. Toby Malara, Government Affairs Counsel with the American Staffing Association, added “As an umbrella advocacy and policy development alliance for employees and employers of businesses of all sizes, the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage is poised to make a positive impact in the lives of the 178 million workers and their families who are counting on its success.”

Ahead of its formal launch, P4ESC issued an endorsement letter for bipartisan legislation to ease ACA reporting requirements and threw its support behind legislation expanding benefit flexibility under Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

“The Society for Human Resource Management believes legislation must support and strengthen the employer-based health care system. The Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage advocates to ensure that employer-sponsored health benefits remain a viable, affordable option for employers and employees alike,” said Chatrane Birbal, Senior Advisor of Government Relations, the Society for Human Resource Management.
 
P4ESC boasts a membership roster of a dozen leading employment groups and counting, including: The American Hotel & Lodging Association, American Staffing Association, American Rental Association, Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., Auto Care Association, International Franchise Association, National Association of Health Underwriters, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, National Retail Federation, Retail Industry Leaders Association, Society of American Florists, and Society for Human Resource Management.

See additional quotes from P4ESC members here.