By Ravi Bhatia- Talk Radio News Service
Christina Romer, Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said Thursday that a health care report conducted by the Business Roundtable shows that enacting health care reform could significantly slow the growth of health care costs.
“[The Roundtable's] number, which I find striking, is that the health legislation as it’s coming out of Congress could lower costs, relative to what they otherwise would have been, by as much as $3000 [per person] by 2019,” Romer said. “The reason the report is so powerful is because it shows where we are and how far we’ve come.”
“[The report] makes a point that [current] health care costs are out of control,” Romer added. “If you think about the trajectory that we’re on, it’s simply not sustainable.”
The Roundtable, which consists of chief executive officers from leading U.S. corporations, generally leans conservatively. While their report identifies the components of health care reform that could slow the growth rate of health care costs, it also mentions the proposals in the bill that could do the opposite, such as shifting costs to the private sector.