Len Nichols

In their recently released paper, "Employer Health Costs in a Global Economy: A Competitive Disadvantage for U.S. Firms," Len Nichols and Sarah Axeen argue that rising health care costs and the employer health care burden threaten our nation's ability to compete internationally and the stability of American jobs. Please join the New America Foundation Health Policy Program to discuss this important intersection of health care and the economy and examine its implications for a national conversation… more

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Employer health costs put U.S. firms at a competitive disadvantage compared with certain trading partners, highlighting the need to separate health coverage from employer financing, according to a report scheduled for release May 7.

The report by the New America Foundation found that, while U.S. manufacturers pay $2.38 per hour for health benefits, five of the country's major trading partners pay an average of $0.96 per hour. The report looked at health… more

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U.S. manufacturers who provide health insurance spend an average of $2.38 per worker per hour on healthcare -- more than twice as much as their foreign competitors, an analysis released Tuesday found. . .

But the new analysis suggests that neither lower wages nor higher prices are an option for most companies. Employers can't slash wages fast enough to keep up with rising healthcare costs because of minimum wage laws, union contracts and other… more

 

Contact: Elizabeth Carpenter New America Foundation 401-529-9379 (cell) 202-261-6585 (office) carpenter@newamerica.net   

Washington, DC -- Rising health care costs undermine the ability of U.S. firms to compete internationally and threaten good American jobs, according to a report released today by the New America Foundation. 

The New America report, "Employer Health Costs in a Global Economy: A Competitive Disadvantage for U.S. Firms," found that U.S. manufacturers spend more than twice as much for health benefits than their foreign… more

Increasing Employer Health Costs, Lowering U.S. Competitiveness

Although most Americans get health insurance through their employers, business leaders are increasingly united in their belief that rising health care costs threaten America’s competitiveness in the global economy. Business support for comprehensive health reform has been growing as a result.

However, economists generally believe that it is workers -- rather than employers -- who pay for health care through lower wages. Although this proposition may hold true in the long run, employers face… more

Los Angeles Times | Democratic and Republican Healthcare Plans Offer Clear Choices

"McCain is talking about Wild West competition where there are no limits," said economist Len Nichols, who directs the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation and served as an advisor in the Clinton White House.

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. . . Len Nichols of the Washington-based New America Foundation, a public policy institute, said at a panel discussion on health care in Washington last week: "If we could just agree to cover everyone, we could talk about how." . . .

Nichols said the quickest way to get Congress to create a Medicare-like plan for all is to suggest that big employers don't have to offer health insurance. In other words, workers wouldn't stand for… more

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.  . . Mr. Nichols says that Sen. McCain's plan to allow people in one state to buy individual insurance in another -- essentially deregulating this part of the insurance market -- amounts to "ideology trumping policy." Rational insurers will attract the healthy with low premiums and boost premiums for those with pre-existing conditions. "Fifty to 75 million Americans will discover what 'actuarially fair' really means," he says. (Sharply higher premiums.) The result, he predicts, will be… more

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. . . Since the Utah legislature passed a bill setting up a task force to study comprehensive health care reform, everybody with a stake in the issue has been bringing out ideas and issues for discussion, hoping to see its positions reflected in the final recommendations. The Utah Health Policy Project brought Len Nichols to Salt Lake City to address the issue. He's a health care economist with the New America Foundation, a think tank based in Washington, DC. . .… more

 

Contact: Elizabeth Carpenter New America Foundation 401-529-9379 (cell) 202-261-6585 (office)

Len Nichols, Director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, released the following statement in response to the Congressional Budget Office's report that the bipartisan Healthy Americans Act (HAA) would be roughly budget-neutral in its first year, and actually produce budget surpluses in following years.

"The CBO report proves that the U.S. can afford a high-value health system that guarantees every American quality,… more