Individual Health Insurance Quote Reform Weekly: EasyToInsureME : 08/24/09

Week of August  24 , 2009 : EasyToInsureME

With opposition to a government-plan option evident at many health care
reform town hall meetings this summer, an alternative option based on
private regional cooperatives is now getting a lot more serious
attention. In fact, Senate Finance Committee member Senator Mike Enzi
(R-WY), part of a six-member team that continues to try to achieve a
bipartisan agreement throughout the Congressional recess, said last
week that he could support a co-op provision. However, the co-op idea
has its detractors and is still not well defined. Aetna Chairman and
CEO Ron Williams was asked last week about co-ops and other facets of
health care reform during an interview televised on PBS' Newshour with
Jim Lehrer. To see the interview and hear his thoughts about the latest
developments in health care reform,.
 
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Federal
With Congress in recess, there is no federal report this week.

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States
CALIFORNIA: Legislation to initiate a health insurance tax to fund the
state’s high-risk pool has been shelved for the year. The tax would
have required all health insurers to be assessed up to $1 per member
per month across each company’s entire book of business, including
self-funded clients. Aetna led the opposition to this tax, which has
been proposed in the past by California-domiciled health insurers and
HMOs. Aetna argued that funding a high-risk pool should be broad-based
and not single out one industry, nor should it tax employers that do
not purchase insurance but instead choose to fund health benefit
arrangements in-house. The concept of funding high-risk pools by
tapping employer’s self-funded arrangements was proposed but ultimately
withdrawn or defeated in Oregon, Maine and Colorado this year as well.
It is anticipated that these states will revisit the legislation in
2010.

 
NEW YORK: Governor Paterson's office is again outlining its priorities
for federal health care reform for New York's congressional delegation
and is signaling its intent to maintain or strengthen the state's role
in regulating health care benefits. The Governor's office is
emphasizing a need for any insurance exchange program to ensure a level
playing field between the exchange and non-exchange insurers; the view
that the federal law should be a floor and not a ceiling; and that
there should be concurrent jurisdiction of the federal and state
governments to regulate the insurance industry. In addition, Governor
Paterson appointed James Wrynn as the new superintendent of insurance.
The Senate is expected to act on this and other appointments in a
one-house special session on Sept. 10.
 
TEXAS Health Insurance
: In a press conference held last week, Governor Rick Perry emphasized
the importance of state-developed health care reform rather than the
costly, expansive, one-size-fits-all mandates being considered by the
federal government. The Governor expressed concern over the potential
loss of a state’s ability to develop solutions tailored to the unique
needs of its citizens. He further argued that current federal health
care reform legislation would pose a serious threat to patients and
providers, and would cost Texas taxpayers tens of billions of dollars
over the next 10 years, without significantly improving care for Texans.