Chief executive officers (CEOs) of major US companies gather each year for a Business Roundtable in which they discuss the issues affecting their businesses.  This year, health care is a hot topic and the consensus is that the current dismal state of health care in the country affects the global, as well as the national, economy.  They base their findings on a cost-to-value ratio that compares the dollar amount spent on health care with the value received for that care.

These CEOs are describing the American healthcare system as a liability on the global economy and have called out for years to put some controls on healthcare costs, especially since the burden of the expense falls so heavily on the nation’s employers.  In the report issued by the group, the corporate executives express the willingness to pay more if only they got better value for the money invested.

The report asks for reform but does not endorse government-run healthcare systems similar to those of other industrialized (advanced) nations.  It suggests, instead, that health care should remain privatized but with a safety net backed by the government to assist people of limited means.

During roundtable discussions, healthcare value was identified as life expectancy, cholesterol readings, blood pressure, death rates, and similar measures of health.  When comparing the dollar amount spent to the health of the citizenry, the roundtable findings include:

• $2.4 trillion a year is spent on health care in the US
• On a per-capita basis, that’s $1,928 per person for 2006
• $1,928 per capita is 250% more than any other advanced nation spends
• On a cost-to-value basis, the US is 23 points behind its five top economic competitors (Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom)
• The governments of these five nations play a bigger role in their healthcare systems than the US does although each nation operates on a different healthcare system
• The US is 46 points behind its closest emerging competitors (Brazil, China, and India).

The roundtable report highlights the fact that other nations pay less for health care but have healthier citizens.  It also addresses the matter of US healthcare dollars being funneled into a less-healthy workforce at the expense of the rest of the economy.  For example, General Motors spends more money per car on employee health care than it does for steel, according to the report.