Industry Reacts To SOTU Comments On Med Mal Reform, Regulation

She added, "The medical loss rules may also diminish access to insurance agents and brokers. Millions of individuals and small businesses depend on licensed agents and brokers to help them navigate the health care marketplace and find health plans that suit their needs and budgets."

Industry groups praised the president's support for the repeal of a mandate in the health care law requiring all employers fill out a 1099 tax form for all expenditures above $600.

"We welcome the president's call for repeal of the 1099 provision in last year's health care law, which he recognized places a needless burden on small businesses, and we hope that Congress will swiftly allow him to sign a repeal of the provision into law," said Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).

While insurer groups also supported the president's statements regarding the strengthening of laws that "rein in frivolous lawsuits," a trial lawyer group criticized those remarks.

Gibson Vance, president of the American Association for Justice, said, "As many as 98,000 people die every year from preventable medical errors, with countless more injured. President Obama should direct his focus toward tackling this startling figure, not promoting efforts that could eliminate the legal rights of patients."

Insurance groups, though, supported the president on medical liability reform. "Runaway lawsuits have forced physicians to leave their practices in many locations, resulting in a real crisis in access to health care services as well as increased health care costs for all Americans," said Ms. Trautwein.

NAMIC's Mr. Grande also voiced support but called for action on the issue. "While we appreciate the president's willingness to 'look' at medical liability reform to reduce frivolous lawsuits, looking alone won't protect our nation's doctors from being hit with frivolous lawsuits or drive down medical costs," he said.

NAHU was critical of a mandate in the health care law that most employers must pay new taxes if they don't offer government-approved health insurance. Ms. Trautwein said it is a "job-killer at a time when unemployment is still sky-high."

In his remarks about the health care law, President Obama said, "I have heard rumors that a few of you still have concerns about our new health care law. So let me be the first to say that anything can be improved. If you have ideas about how to improve this law by making care better or more affordable, I am eager to work with you."

Regarding other issues, Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the American Insurance Association (AIA), voiced encouragement about the president's recent order for a review of current regulations that, she said, "stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive."

Ms. Pusey added, "Now, with the president clearly supporting and underscoring the critical relationship between balanced regulation and jobs, it is our hope that federal agencies will act accordingly and that the [National Association of Insurance Commissioners] and state insurance regulators will apply the same message into their efforts."