AHIP Statement on the Release of Proposed Senate Legislation

/PRNewswire/ -- Karen Ignagni, President and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), released the following statement today on the release of proposed Senate legislation:

"The promise of health care reform is that it will provide all Americans coverage, allow them to keep their coverage if they like it, and bends the cost curve to put the system on a sustainable path. These are the standards by which any reform bill should be judged, and the Senate bill falls short of meeting them. We believe that these issues can be addressed and improved to achieve these goals, and we will continue to work with policymakers toward that end.

"We believe that all Americans, regardless of health status or medical history, should have guaranteed access to affordable coverage. We have proposed guarantee issue coverage with no exclusions for pre-existing conditions in conjunction with a coverage requirement and adequate subsidies for working families. We also have made a commitment to do our part by proposing far-reaching administrative simplification reforms that improve efficiency, reduce costs, and free up time for physicians to focus on patient care. We stand by these commitments, but agree with a wide range of health policy experts that market reforms will not work if there is not an effective coverage requirement.

"This proposal encourages people to wait until they are sick to purchase coverage, which will significantly drive up costs for those who are currently insured. The legislation also imposes rating rules that will raise the cost of coverage for millions of young families in more than 40 states.

"The new health care taxes and fees will raise the cost of coverage for individuals, families, and employers. Health plans will be required to pay a $6.7 billion tax beginning next year for the next 10 years, in addition to 'stabilization' fees of $25 billion in 2014, 2015, and 2016. According to Fortune magazine's analysis of the companies listed under 'Insurance and Managed Care,' earnings in 2008 totaled $8.61 billion with a profit margin of 2.2% -- ranking the industry 35th on the Fortune list.

"This bill will also exacerbate the health care cost shift as health care providers offset reductions in public program reimbursements by charging more to families and employers who have private coverage. The new government plan will cause even more cost-shifting and threaten the employer-based coverage with which Americans are overwhelmingly satisfied.

"The $117 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage will threaten the choices that seniors have across the country and significantly reduce seniors' benefits in many major metropolitan areas.

"Congress is being forced to turn to these financing mechanisms because it has been unwilling to make a commitment to specific strategies and enforceable objectives that will bend the health care cost curve downward."

-----
www.politicalpotluck.com
Political News You Can Use

Doctors demand Obama apology

Dr. Richard S. Kerr, M.D., a West Virginia Libertarian Party member and a retired doctor with 36 years experience, asked President Barack Obama last Thursday to apologize for comments made in his July 22nd press conference accusing doctors of conspiring to make children sicker for profits.

“President Obama should be ashamed of himself for trying to scare Americans into supporting his government takeover of medicine by falsely accusing doctors of making children sicker. I have never heard a more disgusting or blatantly phony conspiracy theory. We treat our patients with the respect, care and concern you will never find in Obama’s government-run rationed care bureaucracy,” said Dr. Kerr.

“On behalf of my colleagues, I respectfully ask President Obama to apologize for such a slanderous lie and ask him to stop engaging in sickening conspiracy theories to push his government-run scheme. These cheap scare tactics are beneath the dignity of the office of The President and perfectly illustrate why more and more Americans are losing faith in Barack Obama.”

In his July 22nd press conference, Obama claimed, “…you come in and you've got a bad sore throat, or your child has a bad sore throat or has repeated sore throats, the doctor may look at the reimbursement system and say to himself, you know what, I make a lot more money if I take this kid's tonsils out.”

“For President Obama’s information, pediatricians do not perform tonsillectomies. If he doesn’t know that, then he has no business centrally planning your family’s health care,” said Dr. Kerr.

-----
www.politicalpotluck.com
Political News You Can Use