NU Online News Service, March 11, 2:54 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON–The health insurance industry said it will give the Obama administration detailed data on the provisions needed for health care reform legislation to reduce skyrocketing medical care costs.
The data will be provided "very shortly," a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans said today.
Karen Ignagni, president and chief executive officer of America's Health Insurance Plans, promised to provide the data in comments at AHIP's annual National Policy Forum yesterday.
She made her remarks after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told health insurers that continued health insurance industry opposition to health care reform and continued escalation of premiums will ultimately hurt the industry.
In response, Ms. Ignagni said that she hoped that providing the data and Ms. Sebelius' appearance will mark the "beginning of a change" in the tone of the health care reform debate.
In comments at the conference Tuesday, Ms. Ignagni had decried the "vilification rather than problem solving" that she said now marks the debate over health care reform legislation.
In her comments, Ms. Sebelius said that opposition to the Democratic legislation "won't work in the long run for the American people or our health care system."
Her concern, she said, is that if insurers continued to oppose Democrats' healthcare legislation, premium increases would continue and more small businesses would drop health coverage for their employees.
"You can continue your opposition to reform," Ms. Sebelius said. "If you do, and reform goes down to defeat, we know what will happen."
In response, Ms. Ignagni said after Ms. Sebelius' comments that "insurers have been concerned that the current legislation will make the current system more expensive and not more affordable."
Her specific concern is that health coverage mandates in the current versions of healthcare reform legislation do not provide enough incentives to buy health insurance and are not strong enough.
If enough young, healthy individuals choose not to buy insurance, "the people in the pool will be the oldest ones and the ones with the highest health problems," Ms. Ignagni said.
At the same time, the White House issued a memorandum to all government departments calling for them to use "payment recapture audits" designed to curb waste and fraud, presumably primarily in the Medicare and Medicaid system.
This would give incentives to private auditors to examine government payments and report fraud to the agencies.
This was designed to adopt a key Republican proposal on health care reform, curbing fraud and abuse in government programs.
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