Frank Jemley, President and CEO of the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers (KAM) sent the following letter to Members of the Kentucky General Assembly regarding KAM’s position on Healthcare Costs.
Dear Members of the General Assembly,
On behalf of Kentucky’s 3,200 manufacturers and their 260,000 employees, we want to thank you for your thoughtful consideration last year of the impacts that certain healthcare and pharmacy-related bills would have had on Kentucky’s manufacturers and our business community overall.
We urge you to be skeptical of any such legislation in this year’s session. Proposals that would increase healthcare costs for Kentucky businesses and their employees and dependents, or that would shift more costs to them should face a very high bar for serious consideration.
Rising healthcare costs remain a substantial concern for employers across the Commonwealth since the average premium for employer-sponsored family coverage nationally has risen 20% over the past five years and 43% over the past decade.
For that basic reason, it remains challenging for Kentucky businesses to provide meaningful, valuable benefits to their employees and dependents at prices that are affordable to both the company and its team members.
We also encourage the House of Representatives and the Senate to include fiscal notes and health mandate statements with any bills that could increase healthcare costs for the Commonwealth or private employers.
We look forward to working with you to protect employer healthcare benefits, the basis of our country’s healthcare system.
Thank you for your service to the Commonwealth and for your consideration of our concerns.
Best regards,
Frank Jemley
President and CEO
Kentucky Association of Manufacturers
