Pelosi Vows Renewed Health Care Push, But Passage Seen Unlikely

NU Online News Service, Jan.28, 3:41 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON–In the wake of President Obama's call for a renewed effort to pass health care legislation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. said House lawmakers will try to separately pass smaller pieces of the bill.

"Some things we can do on the side," Rep. Pelosi said of the health care bill. "We will move on many fronts–any front we can."

One of the first pieces is likely to be floor action on legislation repealing the McCarran-Ferguson Act protection against antitrust laws for health and medical malpractice insurers. The Democratic House leadership plans action on that bill for next week.

But insurance industry officials were doubtful any measure would pass.

Joel Wood, senior vice president of government relations for the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, voiced pessimism that comprehensive legislation can be enacted this year, noting that, "at this moment, history seems to be demonstrating that comprehensive health care reform is a Bermuda Triangle for presidents and Congress."

In his first State of the Union address last night, the president also pressed for Congress to pass strong financial reform initiatives.

Health care, he acknowledged, is a complex issue, and the longer the legislation was debated, the more skeptical people became.

"I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people," he said. "And I know that with all the lobbying and horse-trading, this process left most Americans wondering what's in it for them," he added.

But, he went on to mention that millions are uninsured or due to lose health insurance. "I also know this problem is not going away," he said.

He added that, "As temperatures cool, I want everyone to take another look at the plan we've proposed."

Regarding financial services reform, he said, "We need to make sure consumers and middle-class families have the information they need to make financial decisions. We can't allow financial institutions, including those that take your deposits, to take risks that threaten the whole economy."

Then, he noted that the House "has already passed financial reform with many of these changes.

"And the lobbyists are already trying to kill it," he said. "Well, we cannot let them win this fight. And if the bill that ends up on my desk does not meet the test of real reform, I will send it back," he added.

Charles Chamness, president and CEO of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, voiced concern with certain items on the president's continuing legislative agenda.

He cited the president's proposal to assess a fee to recoup federal funds used to bail out large banks and financial firms at the outset of the financial crisis.

As currently proposed, the fees may also apply to some property and casualty insurers who did not play any role in the crisis and did not seek nor accept any federal support, Mr. Chamness said.

"Requiring mutual or reciprocal insurers, which are policyholder rather than shareholder owned, to pay the fee would be putting the burden for the crisis directly on ordinary Americans to pay for the mistakes of other, unrelated institutions," Mr. Chamness said.

In addition, he said, "virtually every examination of the financial crisis has found that the property and casualty industry played little or no role in the economic collapse in 2008, and the industry has remained strong throughout the crisis and recession."

"As the largest trade association representing property and casualty insurers, we at NAMIC believe that a 'Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee' should be paid by those who were responsible for the financial crisis," Mr. Chamness said. "The money that was lost on Wall Street should not have to be repaid by policyholders on Main Street."

Regarding health care, Peter Stein, vice president of congressional affairs of the National Association of Health Underwriters, said his organization "hopes Congress and the White House will take the opportunity to engage in real bipartisan, open and transparent negotiations and solutions to reduce costs, improve quality and ensure choice and access for all Americans in a way that will strengthen our health system and our economy.

"Unfortunately, the one-sided policy and process of the previous health bills did not come close to meeting these goals," said Mr. Stein.

He reiterated NAHU's position that for its members, "one of the most important elements of reform must focus on containing the long-term growth in medical care, which is what drives insurance prices."

"Unless and until we have the resolve to make reforms that reduce the underlying growing costs of health care delivery–whether or not insurance is involved–proposals to expand access to insurance will just redistribute costs and continue to fall short," Mr. Stein concluded.