WASHINGTON — A coalition of U.S. health care businesses proposes rebuilding America’s battered economy by selling the country’s “health ecosystem” internationally.

The Alliance for Healthcare Competitiveness wants the U.S. government to build its foreign free-trade policy around the health care industry, noting that the sector has been a significant jobs creator since the recession began in 2008.

Breaking down tariffs and other forms of international discrimination against America’s “health ecosystem” will allow developing countries such as China, India and Brazil to improve medical care while allowing U.S. companies to rescue the American economy by hiring more people, AHC leaders said Monday.

The worldwide need for health care in aging populations will lead to a demand for goods and services that can drive sales of American insurance, medical devices and record-keeping technology, said Simon Stevens, UnitedHealth’s president of global health and an AHC leader. Further, a growing middle class in developing countries will have the money to pay for better treatment, which U.S. companies can provide.

“This is about making it easier for patients around the world to benefit from things that have demonstrably worked,” said Stevens.

The push by major companies in the health sector comes as Congress and state legislatures battle over how to reform the U.S. health care system, which is beset with skyrocketing costs and inefficiencies. Americans currently pay more for health care and rank lower in life expectancy and infant mortality than much of the developed world.