AHIP Statement on President Obama's Address
Washington, D.C. -- Americas Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) released the following statement today from Karen Ignagni, President and CEO:
We agree the status quo is not sustainable. That is why health plans last year did something industries rarely do: stepped up and offered solutions to address the health care concerns raised by the American people. We proposed health insurance reform to guarantee coverage to all Americans, eliminate pre-existing condition exclusions and rescissions, and no longer base premiums on a persons health status or gender. To keep coverage as affordable as possible, these reforms must be paired with an effective coverage requirement to get everyone into the health care system.
New health insurance reforms and consumer protections will solve the problem without creating a new government-run plan that will disrupt the quality coverage that millions of Americans rely on today. We share the concerns that hospitals, doctors, employers, and patients have all raised about the significant unintended consequences of a government-run plan.
Health care reform must also include a serious commitment to cost containment to ensure coverage is more affordable and to put our health care system on a sustainable and fiscally responsible path. New taxes on health care coverage will have the opposite effect by making coverage less affordable for families and small businesses across the country.
Health plans will continue to work with policymakers and stakeholders to advance comprehensive, bipartisan health care reform. The nation cannot afford to let this historic opportunity pass us by.
By
Paul Volpe
|
September 9, 2009; 9:32 PM ET
Categories:
Health Reform
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AHIP says that new reforms and consumer protections will solve the problem "without creating a new government-run plan that will disrupt the quality coverage that millions of Americans rely on today." So, does that mean that a) the insurance industry is prepared to cover the millions that aren't already receiving "quality coverage" or that b) the insurance industry doesn't care about the Americans who don't have coverage?
Posted by: ebhart | September 9, 2009 10:26 PM | Report abuse
As I see it......to use a sports metaphor,
the proposal on the board is no more a "government take over", than saying the "officials" are "taking over the game",
they are there to insure that everyone plays by the "rules of the game", that is why they carry the rule book in their pocket! The president is writing the rule book for this game. It is the obligation of
the government to see that everyone follows the those rules as written.
Posted by: littlehootie | September 10, 2009 10:10 AM | Report abuse
"We share the concerns that hospitals, doctors, employers, and patients have all raised about the significant unintended consequences of a government-run plan"
No Ms.Ignagni. That is NOT why the AHIP opposes the public option.
Most of us who have been following the health care debate for some time don't buy this for one minute. The reason the AHIP opposes the public option is because you fear (and rightfully so) the public option will cost the health insurance industry money.
The AHIP could care less if people don't have access to health care or if they suffer or die needlessly because of lack of access to quality health care.
For the health insurance industry it's all about protecting profits, profits, and profits.
Put quite simply the health insurance industry fears the public option may put them of business because there is no way to reconcile two opposing objectives, namely, maximizing profits and share holder value and providing health care for sick people.
Something has to give in this situation and the something to give, regretably, is providing health care for sick people.
In the final analysis, the American people, have to decide if they desire a health care system which exists for the profitability of the health insurance industry or a health care system that treats sick people.
Finally, Ms. Ignagni, how would you answer the following question Uwe Reinhardt posed in a letter to the American Medical Association?
"In America if the child of a rich family and the child of a poor family both contract the same disease, should they both have access to the same care to treat it.?
How would you, Ms. Ignagni, and the AHIP answer the above question?
Posted by: montana123 | September 10, 2009 2:08 PM | Report abuse
Funny how NOW it's a priority when the writing's on the wall. For decades the insurance industry has squeezed the blood out of consumers and given little in return to health care recipients and doctors except headaches and bureaucracy. Call after call and the insurance company refuses to cover what it says it covers due to a minor technicality. Insurance companies have had a monopoly and have only cared about the salaries of executives and the profits to their stockholders. And then, when they made bad decsision, the American people bailed them out. And they took that money and gave it to their executives and stockholders.What a bunch of self-serving claptrap.
Posted by: wdague | September 10, 2009 5:11 PM | Report abuse
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