Health Insurance Quotes Reform Obamacare & Buying Individual Health Insurance

JANUARY 29, 2010

This Week in Health Care Reform

Following
the election of Republican Scott Brown to the Massachusetts State
Senate last week and the resulting loss of Senate Democrats'
supermajority, lawmakers continue to pave the way for health care
reform - with limited progress. In addition, polls indicate that the
public would rather lawmakers focus more on the economy than on health
care.

State of the Union Address

President Obama Gives
State of the Union Address: On Wednesday evening, President Barack
Obama delivered his first State of the Union address before a joint
session of Congress. Having hoped to have a health care reform bill on
his desk prior to his address, the President instead used his speech to
encourage Congress to push forward on health care reform. Yet, he did
not give specific guidance as to how to proceed with the legislation.
Instead, he made it clear that his primary focus would be on jobs and
the economy.

Easy To Insure ME Health Insurance Quotes... Quote all carriers in seconds
Buying Individual Health Insurance
Health Insurance News

Health Care Reform Negotiations

Democrats
Still Seek Way Forward: While vowing not to give up, Democratic Senate
leaders indicated Tuesday that they no longer felt pressure to move
quickly on health care reform; and, in the wake of the Massachusetts
election and in reaction to public opinion, they shifted focus to jobs
and the economy. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) commented
that there is "no rush" on health care and said that he and Speaker of
the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) were working to map out a way to complete
health care reform in the coming months. On Wednesday, Sen. Pelosi
floated a two-pronged strategy to pass incremental changes now and
pursue comprehensive reform later.

Some lawmakers have
considered breaking up the legislation into smaller pieces that have
bipartisan support. However, this option will prove challenging given
the complexities and interdependencies of the measures. For example,
lawmakers would like to include a measure that requires all insurance
companies to insure those with pre-existing conditions; however,
premiums will most likely increase unless there is an individual
mandate.

Earlier this week, Democrats appeared to be coalescing
around a different strategy through which Senate lawmakers would make
changes to their bill to appease members of the House. The Senate would
then pass the revised bill via reconciliation, which only requires 51
votes. Following that, the House would approve the revised bill, giving
it to President Obama for his review. However, movement on this
strategy stalled Tuesday when two centrist Senators, Sens. Evan Bayh
(D-IN) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AK), indicated that they would oppose
using reconciliation to bypass Republican support. Others, including
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), have
suggested a "time out" on health care reform until there is a clear
path forward.

In the GOP response to President Obama's State of
the Union address, Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell said that
Republicans share the Democrats' desire for health care reform, but do
not agree with their proposed solutions. Republicans suggest that
Democrats scrap the current proposals and start over with more
Republican input on issues such as medical malpractice reform and
selling insurance policies across state lines.

Republicans Call
for Transparency: On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee
marked up a resolution presented by Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) which
requested that the administration divulge documentation regarding the
health care reform deals made with trade associations and a labor
union. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) said that while details
remained to be worked out, he would support a narrowed version of the
Republican request for White House records.

President Obama to
Speak with House Republicans: President Obama will meet with House
Republicans on Friday in response to an invitation to speak at their
annual retreat in Baltimore that begins Thursday and ends Saturday. The
meeting comes just after the President's State of the Union address,
and members of the news media speculate that the meeting may spur more
bipartisanship or potentially lead to even more tension between the two
parties.

Interest Groups Call for Reform: With health care
reform's fate in jeopardy, interest groups have voiced their support,
encouraging Democrats to push forward with legislation. The AARP,
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Consumers Union,
Families USA and Service employees International Union sent a joint
letter last Thursday urging Congress not to abandon comprehensive
health care reform. Further, the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops also sent a letter to Congress urging a push for reform.

Public Opinion

Polls
Show Concern with Health Care Reform; More Focus on Jobs and Economy:
Several polls were released this week that highlight the public's
disenchantment with health care reform and anxiety around the
struggling economy.

A new CNN/Opinion Research poll released
Tuesday shows that only three in ten Americans say they want Congress
to pass legislation similar to the bills currently being discussed in
Congress. Forty-eight percent of Americans would like lawmakers to
start again on a new bill, and 21 percent believe Congress should not
work on bills that would change the current health care system.
Further, a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll released Wednesday found that
51 percent of Americans believe President Obama has paid "too little
attention" to the economy and that 44 percent feel he has paid "too
much attention" to his proposed health care overall.

In
addition, a new USA Today/Gallup poll released late last week finds
that most Americans call for a more bipartisan effort in health reform.
A 55 percent majority of Americans say that President Obama and
Congressional Democrats should suspend movement on health care reform
and consider alternatives that would increase Republican support.

A
poll released last weekend by the Washington Post , Henry J. Kaiser
Family Foundation and Harvard University's School of Public Health
indicated that dissatisfaction with the direction of the country,
including the Democrats' health care reform proposals, drove the
outcome of the Massachusetts election. The post-election survey of
Massachusetts state voters showed that overall 43 percent say they
support the health care reform proposals advanced by President Obama
and Congressional Democrats, while 48 percent oppose them.

A new
poll released Monday from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that
fears regarding the health care reform package increased significantly
in December as members of the Senate finalized their bill. Thirty-three
percent of respondents said they believed their access to care would
worsen if the legislation passed, up from 25 percent in November.
Forty-two percent said the country's finances would suffer under
reform, compared with 34.6 percent in November.

Looking Ahead

Next
week, the President will present his Budget to Congress (which includes
health programs), after which Congressional hearings will commence. We
expect health reform to be discussed in these sessions. While there
remains no clear path forward for health care reform, Congressional
leaders will continue to work to find a solution.