Insurers attacking healthcare reform bill with heavy lobbying

by L.A.S.

This is no surprise, but insurers are fighting back hard against prospects of real healthcare reform that may or may not include a public option.

Their latest gambit is a claim that this reform movement would add hundreds of dollars to the cost of insurance coverage, contrary to the claim by the reformers that pitching a bigger tent to cover more people (including young, healthy people who currently do not feel they need health insurance) will reduce the cost of covering everyone else.

To quote the article: “The (insurers) study projected that in 2019, family premiums could be $4,000 higher and individual premiums could be $1,500 higher.

Baucus spokesman Mulhauser said the study is "seriously flawed" because it doesn't take into account provisions in the legislation that would lower the cost of coverage, such as tax credits to help people buy private insurance, protections for current policies and administrative savings from a revamped marketplace.

White House health care spokeswoman Linda Douglass concurred. "This is an insurance industry analysis that is designed to reach a conclusion which benefits the industry, and does not represent what the bill does," she said.” [end of quote]

You can read the whole article (per Newsvine feed) at www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/10/11/3372624-insurers-mount-attack-against-health-reform