Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day Ninety-six percent of metropolitan areas have highly concentrated markets for health insurance, using the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission’s definition of a concentrated market. (American Medical Association) | | Follow Health Insurance Reform
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At the Time This Daily Dose Was Sent, Insured Americans Had Paid a “Hidden Tax” of $49,747,712,510 since January 1, 2009 in Additional Premium Costs to Cover Care for the Uninsured. Under the Microscope INVESTIGATING PREMIUM INCREASES Today the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing to question proposed premium rate increases – some as high as 39 percent – by WellPoint, Inc. subsidiary Anthem Blue Cross. Documents and emails obtained by the Committee called into question the reasoning behind the recent rate hike. Read or watch the hearing testimony. Unfortunately California isn’t the only state where WellPoint is raising rates by double digits as is detailed in a new Center for American Progress report: WellPoint Raising Rates by Double Digits In At Least 11 States. INCREASING HEALTH INSURANCE COMPETITION On the House Floor today is H.R. 4626, the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act, introduced by Reps. Tom Perriello and Betsy Markey. The bill would restore competition and transparency to the health insurance market by amending the McCarran-Ferguson Act to repeal the blanket antitrust exemption afforded to health insurance companies. Another brief by the Center for American Progress titled, Make the Market Work for Health Care, reports on how “lack of competition has led to supracompetitive profits for insurance companies and an epidemic of deceptive and fraudulent conduct” leaving Americans vulnerable when it comes to taking care of themselves and their loved ones. View a report detailing the lack of competition in the health insurance market. RECENT POLLING Two polls out this week show that Americans still want health insurance reform done, and support the major components of the Democrats proposal. Read the Speaker’s blog on some of the findings found in the recent Kaiser Family Foundation monthly tracking poll. Read the below article on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation health care consumer confidence poll out today. Most Americans Still Think Overhaul Needed, Poll Says
Americans' fears about health-care overhaul's effect on them eased in January, according to a poll released as the president tries to revive sweeping Democratic legislation. [Seattle Times, 2/23/2010]
Health Care Headlines Democrats on Track to Revive Healthcare Overhaul
On the eve of President Obama's planned healthcare summit, Democratic lawmakers are increasingly confident that they can resurrect their sweeping overhaul legislation after weeks of uncertainty about whether they could overcome the unified opposition of Republicans. [L.A. Times, 2/24/2010] Anthem Blue Cross Plans to Go Ahead With Rate Hikes In California
Executives from California health insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross, under fire for scheduled rate hikes of up to 39%, insisted Tuesday that their premiums were fair and legal, and they told lawmakers they expected that the increases would go forward. [L.A. Times, 2/24/2010] Lawmakers Accuse WellPoint, Parent Company of Anthem Blue Cross, of Profiteering
At a congressional hearing, Democrats say WellPoint has showered executives with perks as it seeks rate hikes of as much as 39% for California policyholders. [L.A. Times, 2/24/2010] Impact of Bipartisan Summit to Be Felt Beyond Health Care
That's what President Obama will be seeking Thursday at a televised summit with Republicans and Democrats on his stalled effort to revamp America's health care system. [USA Today, 2/24/2010] Big Questions Still Linger on Eve of Health Care Meeting
Three years ago this month, a presidential candidate — John Edwards, as a matter of fact — started a debate on health reform by announcing a plan to cover the uninsured. Since then, we’ve had an election, town hall meetings, speeches, Congressional hearings and a special election in Massachusetts. [New York Times, 2/24/2010] Health Bill Faces Hurdles in House
The sweeping health-care package unveiled this week by the White House appears to face big hurdles in the House, with abortion and unease among moderates potential stumbling blocks to winning passage of the legislation. [Wall Street Journal, 2/24/2010] Health Care No Stranger to Reconciliation Process
To reconcile or not to reconcile — when it comes to a health overhaul bill, that seems to be the biggest argument of the moment. [NPR, 2/24/2010] The Democrats’ 2010 Health Reform Plan Evokes 1993 Republican Bill
In 1993, at the height of President Bill Clinton's health care reform initiative, Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., along with 19 other Republicans and two Democrats, put forth a bill which was considered the major GOP proposal. [Kaiser Health News, 2/23/2010] EDITORIAL: Go to Camp David
We’d love to believe that the bipartisan health care summit slated for Thursday actually will lead to a bipartisan bargaining process and to bipartisan reform of the nation’s costly, inequitable health care system. [Roll Call, 2/24/2010] OPINION: On Health Care: If Not Now, When?
By Harold Meyerson
Unless the sun rises in the West tomorrow, Thursday's health-care reform summit will yield no bipartisan concord. Congressional Republicans remain unalterably opposed to health reform; the ideas they've advanced -- which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says would insure no more than 3 million of America's more than 45 million uninsured -- barely reach the level of piddling. [Washington Post, 2/24/2010] OPINION: Here’s The Rx for a Bipartisan Health Care Reform Bill
By Norman Ornstein
The health care reform summit on Thursday presents one of the most interesting and intriguing political challenges and dynamics I have seen. [Roll Call, 2/24/2010] | 