CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION
May 5, 2009 – 6:05 p.m.
Insurance Lobby Outlines a Strategic Retreat
By Drew Armstrong, CQ Staff
The health insurance industry has started making the hard sell on Congress’ plans for an overhaul of the health care industry, but not in the way many expected. Rather, the frontwoman for private insurance companies is asking for more regulation, not less.
“We have to have a complete overhaul of the rules,” Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday.
“I know you guys are skeptical,” Ignagni told reporters after the hearing. “This is truly what it is. It is a transparent call for a full-scale renovation and a complete overhaul of the existing regulatory mechanisms.”
Ignagni has previously proposed guaranteeing that people who want to buy insurance can get it, and no longer charging higher or lower rates depending on health status — a change from current industry practices. In return, the industry has asked for a government mandate that people buy insurance.
On Tuesday, she also urged a comprehensive overhaul of federal regulation that would govern insurance markets nationwide and replace parts of the patchwork of existing state regulation, all as part of a broader overhaul of the health care system.
Part of the reasoning behind the industry’s push for regulation may be that, with the momentum Democrats have built for a health care overhaul, private health insurers face two choices: change the way they do business, or face competition from a government-run insurance plan that many say would eventually run them out of business.
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“She’s a realist,” said Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack. “Karen understands that health care reform is going to happen, and I think she wants to be at the table so she can affect decisions. I think she has handled herself very well,” said Pollack, who also testified at the hearing.
And with support building for a government-run insurance option with some limits on how it operates, Ignagni appears to be offering concessions: dodging the government-run plan in return for regulation that would more strictly guide how her member companies operate.
“We’re not asking any individual to trust us, we’re asking them to trust the government,” Ignagni told Finance Committee members.
Ignagni has made clear in past hearings that AHIP would oppose any proposal with a government plan.
“The Commonwealth Fund report, which is a terrific report . . . they’ve done a very good job of saying that in a very short period of time, about 120 million people would migrate from the private plan system to the public plan system,” she told reporters.
The Commonwealth Fund is a foundation that supports health care research.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2007 some 202 million people had private health insurance.
Ignagni argued that a tightly regulated insurance market would meet the goals of expanded coverage that Congress seeks.
“This is the way the [Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan] system works. It’s the way Switzerland works, it’s the way Germany works, it’s the way the Netherlands works — so we think there’s a lot of merit,” she said.
Inside AHIP, Ignagni and insurance industry executives have faced pressure from board members like Mark Ganz, the CEO of Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oregon. In an interview earlier this year, Ganz said he had used his position on the AHIP board to put pressure on AHIP members to start seriously rethinking the way they do business, if they wanted to avoid being wiped out or substantially damaged by a government-run plan.
“Our members decided to commit to that goal because they wanted to maintain their ability to serve consumers, they want to solve problems, and they want people to trust the system,” Ignagni said.
The strategy appears to be getting a bit of traction. One of the strongest advocates for a public plan, Sen. Charles E. Schumer , D-N.Y., said of Ignagni’s comments at the hearing: “I think she is trying to be reasonable, and she knows we have to have reform. I was sort of pleasantly surprised.”
Comments
Only God can help us if this congress passes a health insurance overhaul that is anything like the one in Britain. In Britain if you are over 75 years old and you have cancer then, well you get no care and you die. If you need any kind of heart surgery , you don't get it. No one should kid themselves. The only way this country can keep health expenses down is to RATION. No one talks about that of course but that will be the result of anything this congress and administration put into law. Get ready for a big surprise on the elderly of this health plan is base on a European Plan. !!!!!!!
Support HR676 "Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act" to provide comprehensive health coverage for all U. S. residents. Medicare provides health care security for the aged in the U.S. Healthcare YES, Insurance Companies NO!
She may be CRAZY LIKE A FOX, realizing that when a certain segment hears, "just like the Netherlands" (and shout--SOCiALISM) and when they hear that EVERYONE has to be insured, the snot will hit the fan.
Swine flu (A-H1N1) and Healthcare In America Well my fellow Americans, and people of the World. That was yet another very close potential catastrophe. Especially for those of us that live in America with our busted, greed driven, private for profit healthcare system. What ever you do World. Don't copy our current healthcare system. If that virus (A-H1N1) had emerged just a few months earlier our busted healthcare system in America would have collapsed. Just like our economy almost did. And hundreds of thousands more Americans, if not millions would have needlessly lost their lives. As hospital ER's became choked with the sick, and dying. All on top of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who needlessly lose their lives in America each year from a rush to profit by the private for profit healthcare industry. Rich, middle class, and poor a like. Insured, and uninsured. Men Women, Children, and Babies. This was yet another big WAKE-UP! call for America, and for our Government. It's time for Congress to end the debate. And stop dancing around the issues of how they can continue to try and justify protecting the private for profit healthcare industry, and the private for profit healthcare insurance industry. These industries are killing hundreds of thousands of Americans every year in America, and endangering our National security. "the health-care system is, first and foremost, for the American people--not the companies that profit from it." (Tom Daschle | NEWSWEEK) IT'S OVER! The Private for profit healthcare experiment in America is dead. It FAILED! And it was a DISASTER! "NOT FOR PROFIT, TAX PAYER SUPPORTED, SINGLE PAYER, AUTOMATIC, FREE UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE FOR ALL. Is the ONLY! way to go. Essentially HR676 (enhanced, and expanded medicare for all). Just like every other CIVILIZED! country in the developed World has. There is no other way to truly fix or reform our current disastrous healthcare delivery system. NONE! Congress, fix our healthcare crisis while you still have time. President Obama, VP Biden, the Obama administration and the rest of his advisors, along with Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid are doing an excellent job of protecting you. And also an excellent job of representing you and the best interest of the World. But it's time for the rest of Congress to get on board. To those of you who keep standing up and fighting for single-payer universal healthcare for all. YOU! are Americas true HEROES! And I am proud of you. :-) Don't let up. I will have more to say about this VERY! unusual virus (A-H1N1), and flu in general, later. There are some things you really need to know and think about... All of you. Till then, God Bless And Keep You All Jack Smith -- Working Class
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