A survey by a Des Moines area consulting firm shows Iowa businesses are not ready to turn the health care system over to the government. David Lind is president of David Lind and Associates, the group that conducted the survey. He says employers say there needs to be some fundamental changes, but they don’t want to go to the extreme of a one-payer system where the federal government handles it all. Lind says 77-percent of Iowa employers say there is some good in the system. Employers indicated that medical providers, hospitals and physicians, need to re-invent themselves to become more efficient in delivering health care. He says they’d also like to see more competition among insurers doing business in Iowa. Insurers and providers are the only people falling under the critical eye.He says employers are worried about employees not being good consumers when they access health care, and says they believe employees need to be more discerning when accessing health care. Lind says there are some general things in the health care system employers would like to see changed.He says that almost 73-percent of employers say direct-advertising does lead to people using more expensive drugs, and they believe that’s a reason the cost of prescription drugs are going up faster than they should be. Lind says employers have a frustration with the regulations surrounding health care.He says employers believe there’s a lot of complexity in state and local laws that increases the cost to insurance companies to comply. This is the fifth year Lind’s company has conducted the study.
