Intel Chair Calls For Cost-Efficient U.S. Health Care System To Maintain Current Employment Levels

Craig Barrett, chair of computer processor company Intel, at a conference on Tuesday said that U.S. companies should force the health care industry to adopt a more cost-effective system in order to sustain current employment levels, the AP/Omaha World-Herald reports. At the conference, sponsored by the non-for-profit eHealth Initiative, Barrett said that companies should do business only with health care providers that meet certain standards, such as fully electronic health records and the use of "best practice" standards of care. Barrett said health care networks should be "competitive centers for excellence" that solicit business by offering the highest quality care at the lowest price. "Every job that can be moved out of the United States will be moved out ... because of health care costs," Barrett said, adding that the U.S. health care system "is out of control, it's unstable, it's basically bankrupt, it gets worse each year and all we do is tinker around the edges when what we need are major fixes." Barrett noted that health care costs averaged more than $6,000 per person for employers in 2004, adding that increasing health care costs are making it more difficult for U.S. companies to compete abroad. Barrett, who was joined by Wal-Mart Executive Vice President Linda Dillman, said the health care industry should follow Wal-Mart's example of efficiency (AP/Omaha World-Herald, 9/27).

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