Helen Darling Quotes (17 Quotes)

There's no one in the business world who doesn't share the position that the U.S. health care system has a crisis, ... The issue here isn't General Motors. The issue is the unaffordability of health care.

We're very concerned about states taking steps like this, which really is a mandate on businesses. They ought to be working on a way to deal with the uninsured, and this doesn't make sense as a way to do it.

It has the potential to help lower both short-term and long-term health costs.

The government will actually pay employers to continue to provide something. If this works, it may be a model for some other things in the future.

The average we see is more like 12,000 per family,

Employers need to measure the cost of any given health plan two different ways premiums and productivity. Premiums are simple but until the Quality Dividend Calculator, nobody gave you a number showing you how Plan X was going to affect employee productivity. But employers need to know that number in order to determine which plan really represents the best value. The 'productivity cost' of a bad health plan can be very, very high.

Making the right purchasing decision involves factoring in a mix of cost and quality measures--but there are no standardized data sets on network costs that allow us to make apples-to-apples comparisons. These new HEDIS measures are a strong step in the right direction.

Employers should not focus on employee accountability alone. When used in combination with promoting quality care, health management, use of data and appropriate use of care, companies are able to achieve significantly lower cost trends.

Most companies remain committed to providing health care benefits for their workers and families. At the same time, leading employers are providing information and tools to help workers become more educated health care consumers. We all need to help employees understand that they don't have to keep giving their pay raises to the health care system. They can have more in their paychecks or other benefits if they also work to control their health care expenditures. Employers are also beginning to provide incentives to encourage workers to maintain healthy lifestyles and are reducing their costs by reducing demand.

In addition to employers having to pay out more in health care costs, public opinion is now solidly on the side of eliminating smoking and workers are realizing increasingly that they are having to pay for others' lifestyle choices.

We've created a nation of very entitled people who think they can have almost everything.

It's going to radically change medicine. The biggest problem in our country is that we don't have 21st century health IT.

The underlying problem is the problem of affordability of health care in the United States,

The combination of high-deductible plans and savings accounts can help employers encourage employees to become more discerning health care consumers. Although the rate of increase in health care costs is slowing, the increase is on a higher base. Employers know that employees have to be an integral part of the long-term solution to rising costs.

It doesn't sound like it is any more than most corporations did 15 to 20 years ago. This isn't going to solve their problem at G.M. They're still 15 years behind everybody else.

Our members are very excited about this program. Rising health costs are a major challenge for employers and their employees, and this program offers the opportunity to improve quality and consumer decision-making while possibly lowering costs.

Leading employers in the U.S. remain committed to helping their employees with health benefits coverage and programs to improve their health and the health of their families. These employers know that one of the most important ways to control costs is to help employees and their families get and stay healthy.