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Industry Report Distorts Health Reform Cost

Insurance firms' numbers blindside Baucus bill's backers

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 12, 2009 2:50 PM CDT

(Newser) – A new report that says the Senate Finance Committee’s reform bill would raise private insurance premiums is riddled with troubling exceptions, writes Jonathan Cohn. The report, commissioned by America's Health Insurance Plans, estimates the costs of premiums over time if the bill is implemented, but it doesn’t take into account the subsidies also implemented under the bill to help families pay for coverage.

So the report distorts the cost picture for many middle- and low-income families. It similarly distorts analysis of the “excise tax”—intended to end the current subsidy for expensive employer-based plans—by assuming employers will merely pay for the same plans they have today, despite the extra cost related to the tax. The whole point of the tax is that it will encourage employers to shop for more sensible plans in order to avoid it, writes Cohn for the New Republic.

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Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. smiles as he arrives at his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2009 file photo, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. gestures on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg, FILE)

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It's worth keeping in mind that the report comes with some pretty questionable assumptions—and that it comes from a group with its own ideas of what health reform should look like.
- Jonathan Cohn, the New Republic

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 18 comments

hybrid

Oct 23, 2009 4:06 AM CDT

hmm you all made quite a compelling argument, all kinds of facts and links to back up your data. Thanks for playing! point made

alkaseltzersammich

Oct 13, 2009 2:27 AM CDT

Do you need some Pepto for your mental diarrhea?

alkaseltzersammich

Oct 13, 2009 2:18 AM CDT

So you'd rather have massively compensated corporate executives that make upwards of 20 million a year in salary and have the potential to have up to 1 billion dollars in stock options? Don't believe me? Look up United Healthcare's CEO's salary. Govt employees making 75k a year to do skilled insurance underwriting and administration is the least of my concerns.

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Politics • Health

health insurance • insurance companies • Senate Finance Committee • health insurance premiums • health care reform • Max Baucus • US Senate • America's Health Insurance Plans

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Industry Report Distorts Health Reform Cost