Government

Senators want employer health spending disclosed

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 3, 2008

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A bipartisan group of senators last month proposed requiring employers to disclose their employee health care spending on W-2 forms. The proposal follows a recommendation by Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag, PhD, who testified at a Senate Finance Committee hearing in June that workers might demand more efficiency in health care spending if they better understood the amount of money involved. The bill was proposed by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R, Iowa), Max Baucus (D, Mont.), Ron Wyden (D, Ore.), Mike Enzi (R, Wyo.) and Ben Nelson (D, Neb.). Baucus is the Finance Committee's chair, and Grassley is its highest ranking Republican.

Grassley said increased awareness of spending could lead workers to ask for restructured benefits.

The public can submit comments to the Finance Committee until Dec. 31 via ([email protected]" target="_blank">link).

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/11/03/gvbf1103.htm.

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