Newt Gingrich Speaks about Healthy Choices at the U.S. Small Business Administration's National Business Week
Date: April 22, 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Center founder Newt Gingrich gave the keynote address at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Business Week on April 22. The event was held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC and attended by over 400 small business owners. The annual, week-long event recognized the nation’s outstanding entrepreneurs and discusses the challenges, including healthcare, specific to small business owners.
Noting that healthcare is often one of the biggest costs for business owners, Gingrich discussed the core challenge of creating optimum outcomes, both from health and business perspectives, at a minimum price. Gingrich then outlined four steps to get employees healthy that will also save money.
First, Gingrich spoke of the need to change behaviors among individuals and families by thinking through ways to reward healthy choices around diet, exercise and preventive care. Second, small businesses must reinforce these healthy changes by surrounding employees with an environment and an overall culture that promotes health, perhaps by making sure there is a safe place for employees to exercise or by keeping healthy snack choices in the vending machines. Third, small business owners, in cooperation with their local associations, must demand a local health delivery system that is transparent in cost and quality outcomes. The fourth and final piece is to deal with the finances. If steps 1-3 are done effectively, that would make it affordable to cover all Americans in a 300 million payer system where everyone is covered.
