It’s crunch time for healthcare reform, and a group of influential GOP senators have told President Obama that a “public plan” option is a nonstarter. They argue that one form of that public plan, modeled after Medicare, could drive private insurance companies out of business. Meanwhile, Administration officials and Congressional proponents maintain that some kind of public plan is needed...
Health Care Industry Archive
June 2009
There are no surprises in an early version of a health reform bill drafted by Sen. Edward Kennedy’s committee. In a section of the bill devoted to insurance reform, The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee favors guaranteed issue of policies without pre-existing condition exclusions, limited community rating of premiums without gender or health status as factors, and...
Most of the attention paid to President Obama’s letter to Senators Max Baucus and Ted Kennedy has focused on Obama’s willingness to accept a health reform plan that includes an individual mandate to buy health insurance. But that’s not surprising, considering the strong support in Congress for that requirement. And nobody was really surprised that the President called for a public...
A “national advocacy organization” dedicated to preserving the benefits of General Motors’ 122,000 formerly salaried retirees could potentially throw a monkey wrench into the bankruptcy reorganization of the giant automaker. The General Motors Retirees Association on June 2 filed a motion in federal bankruptcy court in Michigan to have the court appoint an official committee to protect...
Standard & Poor’s is maintaining its negative outlook on the health insurance industry, according to an article by two S&P analysts in Business Week. The two main reasons are the continuing deterioration of the economy, which is increasing unemployment and the associated loss of insurance, and the uncertainties engendered by health-care reform efforts in Washington. The analysts said...
Three weeks ago, a coalition of health industry groups reportedly told President Obama they could cut $2 trillion in healthcare spending over 10 years. A few days later, the American Hospital Association and America’s Health Insurance Plans appeared to be backpedaling, saying that cutting the annual spending growth rate by 1.5 percentage points was merely a target. Critics pointed out that it...
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