Excerpt:
In a last-ditch effort to derail a vote for health care reform in the Senate Finance Committee, the health care insurance industry, ironically, made a case for a public option. Over the weekend, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) circulated a study it commissioned from PriceWaterhouseCoopers. According to the president of AHIP, Karen Ignagni, also a key lobbyist for the health care insurance industry:
One key word, however, was left out: Profit.
The report is seriously flawed in its analysis of the projected impact of the bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee and does not even take into consideration the potential impact a public option would have on the health care insurance market.
Insurance companies set these premiums, not lawmakers in congress, or some magical market force that is beyond the control of insurance company executives. This is a glaring reminder that health insurance companies can and will continue to raise prices on the slightest predicates. Without a public option, consumers will have no choice other than paying higher premiums.
Let’s hope our legislators in the House and Senate listen to the voice of the people that they represent as well as the Senate Finance Committee has listened to the lobbyists in the health care industry.
Read more here: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-23316-Madison-Independent-Examiner~y2009m10d14-Health-insurance-companies-make-argument-for-public-option