Health Insurance Reform EasyToInsureME FEBRUARY 5 2010

This Week in Health Insurance Reform EasyToInsureME FEBRUARY 5, 2010

Despite proclaiming to focus on other issues, such as the economy and jobs, President Barack Obama injected new energy into the health insurance reform debate this week.

On
Monday, President Obama held a Q&A session via YouTube in which he
responded to questions submitted during his State of the Union address.
He commented that "it is my greatest hope" to have health care reform
legislation "not just a year from now, but soon." He also responded to
criticisms regarding the lack of transparency around the reform
negotiations.

On Tuesday, at a town-hall-style meeting in
New Hampshire, President Obama rejected the notion that health care
reform was dead, saying "we've got to punch it through." Further, on
Wednesday, he met with Senate Democrats reiterating his commitment to
reform and encouraging lawmakers to press forward. He also suggested
that Republicans play at least some role in negotiating a final bill.

Health Care Reform Negotiations

Democrats
Look for Path Forward: Recent statements made by Rep. Charles Rangel
(D-NY) are the first concrete signs that Democrats have started working
to revive comprehensive health care reform legislation. Rep. Rangel
indicated to the media that lawmakers have begun writing a compromise
bill based on the legislation passed by the Senate last December. The
bill will incorporate changes agreed upon last month by White House
negotiators and members of the House and Senate.

Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) did not commit to a timeline for reform, but
hopes that Democrats can agree to a path forward by next week. So far,
he has been unable to identify compromise language that will win the
needed 51 Senate votes.

At the same time, Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) indicated that the House would vote on a small
piece of the overall health care reform package next week. The proposed
bill would overturn the insurance industry's exemption from federal
antitrust laws. The Senate version of health care reform did not
include this measure because Sen. Reid could not secure the 60 votes
needed to include it; however, Sen. Reid indicated the Senate would
reconsider the measure.

Additional Activities

President
Obama's Budget Assumes Health Care Reform: On Monday, White House
officials released a proposed $3.8 trillion 2011 budget including
several measures aimed at improving health care:

· Hiring more fraud detectives to root out waste in Medicare and Medicaid

· Providing $25.5 billion to help state Medicaid programs swelling with enrollment due to unemployment

·
Eliminating Congressional earmarks for building hospitals and other
facilities, including $10 million for Alaska and $35 million for
Mississippi

· Initiating or increasing funds for the following research projects:

o quality improvements for seniors with chronic conditions

o effective medical treatments for the costliest conditions

o expeditious ways to adopt electronic medical records

o medical fields such as genetic medicine that may provide breakthrough treatments.

Further,
the budget assumes that some form of health care reform legislation
will pass Congress. It includes a "reserve fund for health care reform"
totaling $634 billion as a "down payment" for the legislation and also
assumes that the reform effort will generate $150 billion in savings
over 10 years.

States Begin Initiatives to Expand Coverage: With
the fate of national health care reform in question, state legislators
are pushing their own bills to expand coverage. Last Thursday,
California's State Senate passed a measure to create a government-run
health care system, ignoring a veto threat from Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger. The measure is now with the State Assembly. Missouri
legislators have introduced a similar bill to create a government-run
plan whereas lawmakers in other states, including Virginia and New
Jersey, are working to tweak existing state programs to expand
coverage. Tight budgets in all of those states may hinder these efforts.

Virginia
Senate Says No to Individual Mandates: On Monday, Virginia's
Democratic-controlled State Senate passed measures that would make it
illegal to enforce an individual health care mandate. This decision
comes in direct conflict with the House and the Senate health care
reform bills, both of which require all individuals to purchase health
insurance.

Public Opinion

Majority of Americans Doubt
Passage of Health Care Reform, but Growing Optimism: A survey released
by the Pew Research Center on Wednesday shows growing optimism around
the passage of health care reform. While the poll indicates that the
majority of Americans (60 percent) do not believe health care reform
legislation will pass this year, the figure is down from the 67 percent
who said - just after a special Senate election was held last month in
Massachusetts - that such legislation would not pass.

Poll
Indicates Damage Done On Health Care Reform: A poll released Tuesday by
Public Policy Polling shows that Republicans currently have the
advantage over Democrats in the ballot races for Congress, regardless
of the final outcome of health care reform. In general, the poll shows
that 43 percent of voters surveyed would vote for a Republican, whereas
40 percent would vote for a Democrat. When asked about the implications
of the health care overhaul.

* If health care reform passes, 45 percent would likely vote Republican and 40 percent would likely vote Democrat.
* If health care reform does not pass, 43 percent would likely vote Republican and 38 percent would likely vote Democrat.

The
poll also shows that 36 percent of respondents support the President's
health care reform effort, while 51 percent oppose it.

Looking Ahead

Currently
there is no timeline for the development of a comprehensive health care
reform package. However, Speaker Pelosi is moving forward with smaller
pieces of the bill, starting next week with the repeal of the antitrust
exemption for insurance companies.