Sen. Benton Sawrey Selected For New Health Care Affordability Commission

RALEIGH, N.C. — Senator Benton Sawrey (R-Johnston) has been appointed to a newly created commission charged with developing recommendations to make health care more affordable for North Carolinians.

Governor Josh Stein signed Executive Order No. 39 on Tuesday establishing the Health Care Affordability Commission, a panel of lawmakers, health care providers, researchers, insurers and patient advocates that will study rising medical costs and recommend policy solutions.

Sawrey, who serves as chairman of the North Carolina Senate Standing Committee on Health Care, is one of six voting members of the commission. The panel will be co-chaired by North Carolina State Treasurer Brad Briner and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Devdutta Sangvai.

“Health care costs are skyrocketing, and families are suffering,” Governor Stein said. “I thank Secretary Sangvai and Treasurer Briner for their partnership, and I look forward to working with them to ensure North Carolinians can get access to and afford critical health care where and when they need it.”

Briner said health care expenses continue to outpace income growth, creating financial strain for families and taxpayers alike.

“As Chairman of the State Health Plan, which provides health care for over 750,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and their families, we cannot keep asking those employees and the taxpayers to shoulder this increasingly unsustainable burden,” Briner said. “We aspire to deliver a vision of what a functioning health care system could look like, in addition to near-term concrete recommendations.”

Sangvai said the commission’s work will focus on identifying ways to improve transparency, increase value and expand access to affordable, high-quality health care across North Carolina.

The commission will examine several factors contributing to rising health care costs, including improving price transparency and data collection, promoting competition among health care providers, addressing workforce shortages, expanding access to primary care, exploring value-based care models, and identifying solutions tailored to rural communities.

In addition to Sawrey, the commission’s voting members include Sen. Gale Adcock, Rep. Allen Buansi, Rep. Timothy Reeder, Briner, Sangvai and Kristin Walker, director of the Office of State Budget and Management.

More than a dozen advisory members from hospitals, physician groups, universities, insurers and health policy organizations will also assist the commission.

According to the governor’s office, health care spending in the United States averages nearly $16,500 per person annually, with individuals paying more than $1,500 in out-of-pocket costs each year in addition to insurance premiums. National health care spending has increased nearly 50 percent more than in comparable peer countries.

The commission is expected to develop recommendations aimed at slowing health care cost growth while improving access to care for patients across North Carolina.