After extensive conversations with members of the business community, labor organizations and the health care industry over the last two years, the coalition supports the following six principles that have been identified by one of the coalition members, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, as the foundation from which health care reform should be framed:

• Strengthen regulations to increase consumer protections.
• Ensure that regulations are fair and balanced across all health insurers.
• Require all health insurers to share responsibility for covering high-cost individuals.
• Create an objective and timely rate approval process for all health insurers that is overseen by state regulators.
• Not destabilize the employer-based system of providing health insurance.
• Preserve the Blues’ nonprofit status, and require all nonprofit health insurers to return the value of their tax exempt status to taxpayers.

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