Insurers Propose Covering PreExisting Conditions | Arthritis Information
Health Insurers Offer to Accept All Applicants, on Condition
Published: November 19, 2008
WASHINGTON — The health insurance industry said Wednesday that it would support a health care overhaul requiring insurers to accept all customers, regardless of illness or disability. But in return, the industry said, Congress should require all Americans to have coverage.
The proposals, put forward by the insurers’ two main trade associations, have the potential to reshape and advance the debate over universal health insurance just as President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office.
In separate actions, the two trade groups, America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, announced their support for guaranteed coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, in conjunction with an enforceable mandate for individual coverage.
In the absence of such a mandate, insurers said, many people will wait until they become sick before they buy insurance.
Members of Congress said Wednesday that they wanted to pass legislation next year, as proposed by Mr. Obama, to expand coverage and rein in health care costs.
The new position taken by the insurance industry — the industry that helped sink President Bill Clinton’s plan for universal health coverage in 1994 — could ease the way for passage of such legislation.
But the industry’s position differs from that of Mr. Obama in one significant respect. Insurers want the government to require everyone to have and maintain insurance. By contrast, Mr. Obama would, at least initially, apply the requirement only to children.
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Joie2008-11-20 12:31:39Interesting. The house next door is empty, and my hubbie spotted the owner visiting. He said his Dad was coming down from NJ and the house is empty and he was setting up an air mattress for him.
A couple of days later my hubby spots the Dad, and as we were invited to the son's wedding, and the baby shower a year later, he spoke with him to say hi.
He flew down to FL because on Monday he was at work at Blue Cross/Blue Shield where he has worked for 24 years and he is 63. Two men walked into his office that he had never seen before, told him the company was making some changes, asked for his office keys and his keys to his company car, handed him a severance check and said the other guy was to drive him home. He told my hubbie he just had to get away.
Boy, that 401(k) portability proposal by President Clinton that never went anywhere in Congress would have been nice for this guy to have been able to use.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield - in trouble, obviously.
Oh, does that mean that if it becomes law, they will comply? Or am I just being skeptical???[QUOTE=IslandWoman]Oh, does that mean that if it becomes law, they will comply? Or am I just being skeptical???[/QUOTE]
It's their idea, so yeah, they'd comply if the gov went along and mandated all have health insurance. But that is not President Elect Obama's position, he wants to first work toward making health insurance affordable.
Mandating all have health insurance would be a good deal for for-profit private health insurers - ka ching. Plus they see the writing on the wall, some type of health care reform will be happening -- many are demanding reform, from consumers to employers to medical providers, so its a tactic for the insurance industry, they're offering to cover folks w/preexisting conditions if the fed gov requires everyone to buy their product, insurance.
Having health insurance however isn't the complete answer to access to health care --premiums, deductibles, and copays must be reasonable and affordable, and coverage must be adequate. There will have to be more on the negotiating table besides covering those w/preexisting condtions if the gov should mandate health insurance, there should be some regulation of the insurance companies to ensure their plans are affordable and have adequate coverage.
Sort of a flip flop though for the insurance industry, who spent millions of dollars to kill health care reform in the 90s that might have mandated health insurance.
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