Private health-insurance companies get ready to self-medicate

OPS_admin | May 12, 2009 | Comments 0

Private health-insurance companies get ready to self-medicate | Salon

Big healthcare industry players promise the White House they’ll get on board with reform — so they don’t get trampled by it.

| WASHINGTON — If Harry and Louise were around today, the fictional couple from political ads that helped kill healthcare reform 15 years ago would probably still be worrying about their coverage. But instead of complaining that the government was trying to make healthcare decisions for them, they — like millions of other Americans — might be wondering why their insurance premiums keep rising or how they’d pay their medical bills if they lost their jobs.

That, at least, was the message coming out of the White House Monday. Major players in healthcare, from the drug companies to the insurance providers to hospitals and doctors, joined President Obama to commit to serious reform by the end of the year. Some of the organizations that have fought hardest against changing the system in the past are — for now, at least — saying they’ll work for it this time around. To demonstrate how serious they are, they joined Obama Monday to say they’ll work voluntarily to cut the growth rate of healthcare costs by 1.5 percent each year for the next decade. Unchecked, costs would increase by more than 6 percent a year, so the administration says the country — private employers and the government combined — would save $2 trillion from the effort. An average family of four could save $2,500 a year within five years.

But the announcement could mean more politically than financially — especially since the administration admitted there’s no way to force the groups to do what they say they’ll do. The proposal from the healthcare players was light on specifics, but it was fairly heavy on symbolism; getting everyone from the Service Employees International Union to Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America on the same page before serious debate on healthcare legislation begins means the White House has the political momentum, and opponents of reform don’t.

via Private health-insurance companies get ready to self-medicate | Salon News.