'Costs Are Unsustainable'

Enforcing an individual—and making the coverage affordable through government subsidies—is one of the many issues that the Senate Finance Committee began wrestling with September 22. The committee is the last panel to weigh in on health care reform, but Congress would have to merge all of its competing bills into one piece of legislation that passes both the House and Senate before it could go to the president for his signature.

If that doesn't happen, businesses would be left with a status quo where health care premiums continue to rise every year, far outpacing inflation, even as businesses shift more of the costs to employees.

A new report released by Business Roundtable concluded that per-employee health care costs would triple to $28,530 a year in 10 years if Congress fails to enact health care reform.

"These costs are unsustainable and would put millions of workers at risk," said Antonio Perez, chairman and CEO of Eastman Kodak and chair of Business Roundtable's consumer health and retirement initiative.

Business lobbyists said they would continue to work for insurance-market reforms, both at the state and federal level, if Congress doesn't pass a comprehensive bill. Employers, labor unions, insurers, and health care providers also would continue their work on reforms that don't need legislation, such as quality standards for hospitals, Gelfand said.

Trautwein said some progress could continue to be made through private-sector efforts to drive innovation and control costs, "but it's a little bit like putting a lid on a boiling pot."

The lid won't stay on unless Congress enacts legislation that turns down the heat on health care costs, he said.