Health Insurance Quotes Reform EasyToInsureME

DECEMBER 4, 2009

This Week in Health Care Reform

On
November 21st Senate lawmakers voted along party lines to move ahead
with a floor debate over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV)
proposed health care reform legislation. Negotiations began in the
Senate this week following the Thanksgiving recess.

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WellPoint
believes the Senate legislation will have a significant, negative
impact on the cost and nature of coverage for our customers. We believe
it will cause more problems and have outlined several reasons why
employers, employees, and consumers should be concerned about this
legislation.

If these points concern you as well, we encourage you to engage your Senators thru visiting the Health Action Network.

House and Senate Negotiations

Senate
Debates Health Care Reform Bill: As the debate began Monday,
discussions highlighted many contentious issues including
cost-containment, the public option, illegal immigrants, Medicare cuts
and abortion funding. In the coming weeks each side will be offering
dozens of amendments that will be debated and voted on. On Wednesday,
lawmakers agreed to vote on amendments addressing two of this week's
main issues , centering on women and seniors:

* One proposed
amendment, co-sponsored by Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Olympia
Snowe (R-ME), would increase insurance benefits for women, mandating
that policies include an annual health screening. While the amendment
does not specifically lay out what preventive services will be covered,
the measure gives the Health and Human Services Secretary authority to
make these determinations. Debate on the amendment in part focused on
the controversial recommendations last month that women undergo fewer
mammograms and Pap smears to test for cervical cancer. The
Congressional Budget Office said the amendment would cost $940 million
over a decade. This amendment passed by a vote of 61-39.
* Another
proposed amendment was filed by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and would
remove from the bill $400 million in Medicare cuts to home health
providers, hospitals and private providers of Medicare Advantage plans.
This motion failed by a vote of 58 to 42.

AARP Backs Medicare
Cuts: As Senate lawmakers prepare to vote on controversial Medicare
funding amendments to the reform legislation, AARP said in a letter on
Wednesday that the organization supports Medicare cuts.

Medical
Groups Oppose Senate Bill: A coalition of the American College of
Surgeons and 18 other medical societies representing surgeon
specialists indicated Wednesday that they could not support the
proposed Senate bill given that it inadequately addresses Medicare's
doctor payment system. In addition, the California Medical Association
joined a number of other state medical associations , including
Florida, Georgia and Texas, in opposition to the bill being discussed
in the Senate. The California Medical Association cites increases in
costs of services and restrictions in access to care for elderly and
low-income people as reason for the opposition.

CBO: Premiums
Could Rise for Individuals: According to a new analysis from the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released Monday, the Senate's health
care reform bill may increase premiums for individuals purchasing
insurance, unless they qualify for government subsidies. The report
also indicates that employees from large companies would see premiums
decrease, while those from small firms would see premiums remain
largely unchanged. On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal editorial page
made the case that, according to the CBO, employer-sponsored insurance
costs would remain roughly in line with the status quo; a result
tantamount to failure, considering the overall cost-cutting goals of
reform.

Abortion Continues to Take Center Stage: Abortion-rights
groups held a lobby day on Wednesday as part of a national "week of
action" to fight language in the House health care bill, which would
impose greater restrictions on access to the controversial procedure.
The Senate's reform bill currently does not include the same level of
restrictions. However, the language from the House bill is expected to
come up during the debate.

Other Activities

Pfizer CEO
Backs Reform: Pfizer, Inc . CEO, Jeffery Kindler, said Tuesday that he
supports Congress' efforts to reform the health care system. However,
he is specifically opposed to anything that could lead to price
controls - such as giving the government the ability to directly
negotiate with drug makers for products under the Medicare Part D drug
benefit program. Mr. Kindler also stated that the $80 billion that the
pharmaceutical industry has agreed to contribute to help pay for the
health care system overhaul exceeds any benefit that the industry would
receive from additional patients due to extended coverage.

Public Opinion

Americans
Lean Against Health Care Reform: The latest USA Today/Gallup Poll
released Monday shows that Americans currently skew against passing
health care reform legislation. Forty-nine percent of Americans say
they would advise their member of Congress to vote against the bill,
while 44 percent say they would support it. A Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation poll conducted just before Thanksgiving indicates that most
Americans do not expect health care reform to affect their lives
directly. However, for those who do expect a change, a larger number
believe that there will be more negative affects than positive ones.
Interestingly, however, another poll released Monday by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy (UNM-RWJF Center), Latino
Decisions and impreMedia shows widespread consensus among the
Latino/Hispanic electorate about the importance of health care reform,
indicating significant support for expansion of coverage.

Americans
Support Malpractice Reform: An Associated Press poll released just
before Thanksgiving shows that 54 percent of Americans favor making it
harder to sue doctors and hospitals for medical errors, while 32
percent are opposed to the idea.

Looking Ahead

Negotiations
on proposed amendments to Sen. Reid's reform bill will continue in the
coming weeks. Sen. Reid hopes to have a health care reform bill passed
by Christmas but has warned Senators to plan on working weekends to get
this done.