Activists on the left have long insisted that insurance companies aren’t to be trusted. But up until now, it’s been hard to make the charge stick, since the insurance lobby–a.k.a., America’s Health Insurance Plans–has been cooperating with the White House and its allies.
AHIP’s new paper, though, may have changed things. In the last day, the specious claim that reform would raise premiums has provoked a fast and furious response, uniting everybody from the White House to AARP against a common foe. And that unity could have policy implications.
Let’s face it, the insurance companies own reform. They will, in large part, write the final bill in which they will create an individual mandate (and most definitely not an employer mandate) to buy whatever they deign to sell you, the ‘Merican consumer. And, no, there will be zero competition if they have their druthers. Only subsidies such as may be allowed by some made up number in Olympia Snow’s head will affect the final price to the most imperiled future consumers of this insurance, folks earning at ~300% of poverty.
To the extent that rampant dishonesty (like this AHIP report) helps create some wedge-room to make the previous paragraph less expensive to the end-user, it’s for the good. But I think we all need to start adjusting ourselves for the major screwing over that will only be, uh, rectified once the policies are in place and people are pissed off and demanding some major readjustments or, at the very least, some spittle. But this:
“Ironically with AHIP’s report today may make it more likely that such a windfall profits tax would be included in the final legislation.“
is totally nonsensical. The insurance companies (which stand to make, at a minimum, billions on this or any health reforms package that passes) will pay not one dime of new tax. They may well end up with a tax exemption. Mark my words, children. It will be so.
Funniest of all:
“In a strange way, and look, obviously they didn’t mean this, the health insurance lobby today fired the most important salvo in weeks for the public option,” Rep. Anthony Weiner wrote today on his website, as Daily Kos noted. “Left to their own devices, according to their own number crunchers, they’re going to raise rates 111%.”
Yes they are. And no, there won’t be a robust public option. Best we can hope for is a states-opt-in option that, over time, might actually begin to work. But: there will be significant and extended consumer pain. Get ready. Mostly, I wonder what color the sky is in Anthony Weiner’s world…
Lemkin 