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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009

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the big plan

Beck Will Host Conventions
to Educate America

He's shifting toward political organizer, plans big DC rally

Nov 21, 09 5:06 PM CST
Senate Democrats Clear
Health Care Hurdle, 60-39

Reid gets 60 votes to open full debate after Thanksgiving recess

Nov 21, 09 7:13 PM CST
Palin Pulls in Big Bucks
—for Democrats

'Going Rogue' boosts Dem fundraising to new high

Nov 21, 09 6:50 AM CST
Matt Taibbi

Palin: Our First WWE Politician

Pick an asshole, any asshole, and she'll rock the house

4 hours, 23 minutes ago
demagogue alert

Lawmaker Paints Target on Barack Obama's Back

Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert panders to dangerous paranoids

Nov 21, 09 9:08 AM CST
Reid Gets 60th Vote:
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She'll allow health care bill to move forward; vote at 8pm

Nov 21, 09 1:51 PM CST
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HE'S GOT A BOOK OUT, TOO

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'Big Plan' at
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Righty pundit OK with destroying Dems and GOP

Nov 20, 09 8:07 PM CST
NO COMMUNION FOR YOU, MY SON

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TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

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Obama's Stimulus Finally
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|NEXT STORY »

Dems Lash Out at Insurance Industry

They move to eliminate anti-trust exemption

By Kevin Spak| Posted Oct 14, 09 1:46 PM CDT|

(Newser) – All-out war broke out between the Democrats and the insurers today, with Chuck Schumer calling for an amendment to the health care bill that would remove the industry’s long-standing anti-trust immunity. Schumer called the exemption “one of the worst accidents of American history,” blaming it in part for the precipitous rise in health care premiums. The attack follows a surprise industry report concluding that premiums would rise under the Baucus bill.

Harry Reid said the exemption should have been cut long ago. “There isn’t anything we could do to satisfy them in this health care bill. Nothing,” he fumed. “They are so anti-competitive. Why? Because they make more money than any other business in America. What a sweet deal they have.” Insurance officials dismissed the amendment as a “political ploy,” since insurers are already regulated by the states.

Harry Reid speaks outside the West Wing of the White House following a meeting between President Barack Obama and congressional leadership, Oct. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy introduced a bill to remove the antitrust exemption last month. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Senate Finance Committee member Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., gestures while delivering his opening remarks on Capitol Hill, Sept. 22, 2009, during the markup of health care legislation. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

11.20.09

The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun

11.19.09

Sarah Palin Deserves Some More Attention

52 comments

VIEWING:

rajanKazhmin
Oct 14, 09 1:48 PM CDT

Nice move! Reply

+14

| 0 minutes ago

Wonka
Oct 14, 09 1:49 PM CDT

"They are so anti-competitive. Why? Because they make more money than any other business in America. What a sweet deal they have." And we pay for the lack of competition of these greedy companies. End this now! Reply

+17

IN RESPONSE:

cornelison
Oct 14, 09 3:13 PM CDT

They came out on top during the recession too. Mmmm wonder why?

| 0 minutes ago

Forderon
Oct 14, 09 1:52 PM CDT

Teddy would kick some serious anti-trust ass if he was around Reply

+15

IN RESPONSE:

hybrid
Oct 14, 09 1:59 PM CDT

This comment has been removed by Newser’s community. You must be logged in to view this comment.

-18

IN RESPONSE:

Forderon
Oct 14, 09 2:05 PM CDT

Dear clown, Teddy Roosevelt was the first president to start busting huge monopolies in the US, especially railroad and steel corporations. He paved the way for the next president to bust twice as many as he did. Teddy is even known as the Trust Buster. You clearly have no clue what you're talking about and have nothing substantive to add. Go back to sleep.

+10

IN RESPONSE:

Wonka
Oct 14, 09 2:06 PM CDT

@Forderon: He was no better than the rest of them? You forget your history, TR was breaking up Trusts, not protecting them. You think he was a douche? That's what most Americans think of your "party" today. Need proof, see the 2006 and 2008 election results.

IN RESPONSE:

Wonka
Oct 14, 09 2:07 PM CDT

*@Foderon: Sorry, I meant fondueyou.

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 14, 09 2:14 PM CDT

@fondueyou yeah sorry bro, I am by no means a TR expert but even I knew he was called the Trust Buster. You probably shouldn't start an argument with a guy who has him as his avatar...

IN RESPONSE:

maevealleine
Oct 14, 09 2:22 PM CDT

Don't you mean Franklin D. Roosevelt Forderon?

IN RESPONSE:

maevealleine
Oct 14, 09 2:23 PM CDT

oh nevermind, my bad.

IN RESPONSE:

northeast
Oct 14, 09 3:19 PM CDT

Teddy would have kicked your ass for calling him a douche. Dude once got shot in the 1912 campaign before he gave a speech, so he promptly went to the hospital....after delivering the complete two hour address.

IN RESPONSE:

Snarfeh
Oct 14, 09 6:58 PM CDT

lol! Wrong Teddy, F-you. And btw, I think it's nice you admire Fondue so much that you share part of his moniker. I like Fondue, too. Maybe I'll change my nick to FondueEveryone.

| 0 minutes ago

DJM420
Oct 14, 09 1:53 PM CDT

these mother-fucking insurers have ANTI-TRUST IMMUNITY???? WTF?? WHO THE HELL HAS THAT!!?!? its over for me, as if it wasnt already. pass this shit with at LEAST the public option, congress!!! Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Forderon
Oct 14, 09 2:00 PM CDT

It's funny that the party of the "free market" would be for anti-trust immunity and against competition like the public option. As usual, their "principles" only apply on a selective basis.

+11

IN RESPONSE:

hybrid
Oct 14, 09 2:01 PM CDT

This comment has been removed by Newser’s community. You must be logged in to view this comment.

-11

IN RESPONSE:

northeast
Oct 14, 09 4:50 PM CDT

Unfortunately, someone in the GOP at some point decided that "free markets", "corporate welfare", and "protectionism" were not mutually exclusive ideas.

| 0 minutes ago

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 14, 09 1:56 PM CDT

they promised to be good when we killed health care reform in 1994. Guess what? They lied. Time to pay the piper. Single Payer Now! Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Thinker
Oct 14, 09 2:22 PM CDT

If only. The politicians are too weak and too bought off by the insurance companies to give us the good reform. Who wants to bet this is all pretext and we get nothing but screwed in the end (i.e., the public will have to buy mandatory insurance from the crooks).

| 0 minutes ago

hybrid
Oct 14, 09 1:57 PM CDT

.” Insurance officials dismissed the amendment as a “political ploy,” since insurers are already regulated by the states. there you go just more bs from the house and senate. end the anti trust but what does it matter states control the way they do buisness. Are the state insu administrators going to now be out of a job or what, this bill or lack there of is going to be a disaster. Reply

-8

| 0 minutes ago

DJM420
Oct 14, 09 1:57 PM CDT

as far as im concerned, the insurance is no different than the cigarette industry. (in fact, on a side note , they might even be in cahoots with them, but thats another idea altogether) regulate the hell out of this industry, cigarette companies seem to be somewhat profiable, no bailouts, and bleeding money via settlements (and 3 big cig cos is no diff than 3 big car cors to, so dont tell me there's no cig competition) insurers can still make money. and state reg is a joke. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

LibertyMan
Oct 14, 09 2:02 PM CDT

This comment has been removed by Newser’s community. You must be logged in to view this comment. Reply

-4

IN RESPONSE:

hybrid
Oct 14, 09 2:05 PM CDT

This comment has been removed by Newser’s community. You must be logged in to view this comment.

-12

IN RESPONSE:

Forderon
Oct 14, 09 3:00 PM CDT

That would be a good plan...if your party was actually proposing it! I'd be all for letting insurance companies compete across state lines, with some federal regulations against monopolies, and if there was still a public option for those who can't afford a plan from private insurance. But the Republicans themselves aren't proposing this because it would mean more federal regulations on health care.

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 14, 09 3:40 PM CDT

@ford actually McCain did have some if not most of the aspects of what you were saying in his health care plan. I don't think that he mentioned the public option but the purchasing across state lines was his big plan.

IN RESPONSE:

shonangreg
Oct 14, 09 4:46 PM CDT

The CBO or the GAO, I think it was, did a study on what breaking down the state boundaries would do to pricing, and they found it would shave 1/10 of 1% or so of the pricing off of premiums. It would make almost no difference in the big states, and some difference in the smaller ones. So, for you people advocating such, you need to support your argument with data. The burden of proof is on the person saying the state-by-state regulation has a big effect on the pricing.

| 0 minutes ago

UseReason
Oct 14, 09 2:14 PM CDT

Last time I checked, the average profit margin for the health care companies is about 3%... those greedy bastards! Reply

-1

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 14, 09 2:16 PM CDT

here's the link before people start to beat you up over it. http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2009/08/health-insurance-industry-ranks-86-by.html

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 14, 09 2:20 PM CDT

Insane bonuses paid to execs don't count as profit. United Health-Care paid close to 750 million in salary, bonus and stock options to it's CEO, that would pay for a lot of chemo for cancer kids.

IN RESPONSE:

zik
Oct 14, 09 2:20 PM CDT

Should they be making any profit when we're dealing with peoples lives?

IN RESPONSE:

Thinker
Oct 14, 09 2:25 PM CDT

Zik is right ... profit from illness? Where's the motivation to cure disease and make people healthy? A capitalistic health care industry is a bad idea.

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 14, 09 2:31 PM CDT

@drz is this the same guy your talking about? If so you a little off on your numbers. http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2009/04/20/daily37.html

-2

IN RESPONSE:

Forderon
Oct 14, 09 2:34 PM CDT

Unlike with Wall St., greed isn't the problem here. It's the spiraling costs. The whole purpose of the industry is to act as a leeching middle man.

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 14, 09 2:53 PM CDT

http://sickforprofit.com/ceos/ I'm including his stock options, which your article does not specify.

IN RESPONSE:

UseReason
Oct 14, 09 2:55 PM CDT

I know this may be a difficult concept for many of the economics experts in here, but profit acts as the best incentive for a company to provide the best service in a free market. Contrary to popular belief, health insurance companies make money by retaining and adding to their customer base, not by denying coverage to those that are ill or injured. Unfortunately, we do not have a free market for health insurance in this country; many states are dominated by one or two insurance companies. Currently companies actually have the incentive to deny coverage because they will not lose any customers.

IN RESPONSE:

UseReason
Oct 14, 09 3:02 PM CDT

Think about it... Would you buy insurance from a company that has an absurdly high denial rate? No, you would pick the company that provides the best service with the lowest denial rates. The company with the higher denial rates would lose customers and go out of business. The company providing the best service would get more customers and make the most money, those greedy, greedy, bastards!

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 14, 09 3:17 PM CDT

People take the insurance offered them by their employer. I don't know how one would go about obtaining denial rates in the first place. But even if you could check these numbers what would you do if your employer only offered you one choice of insurance?

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 14, 09 3:24 PM CDT

@dr if you read the article it says he didn't receive any stock options... Hemsley received the same base salary of $1.3 million in 2008 that he had received in 2007. However, he was given no stock options and less incentive pay than he received a year ago, according to the firm’s annual proxy filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday.

IN RESPONSE:

UseReason
Oct 14, 09 3:28 PM CDT

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/368/reportcard.pdf Doctor_Zaius, you could try looking online for denial rates; it didnt take me very long. The AMA did a study last year listing the denial rates of various insurers. I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised to see the top denier of coverage (Medicare). Employees can do plenty of things, but right now they cant do much due to the fact that employers cannot shop across state borders for insurance. Once employers can shop around for policies, they will have the incentive to find the best provider to retain the best employees. If employees are unhappy with their service, they can complain to management or change jobs. However, this is not currently a reality with the current regulations.

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 14, 09 3:38 PM CDT

Just because he didn't receive them doesn't mean he didn't acrue them. Check out Forbes. http://people.forbes.com/profile/stephen-j-hemsley/82872 He currently has $662,546,318 in stock options that are unexercised options, currently exercisable and $81,685,750 in stock options that are currently unexercisable.

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 14, 09 3:40 PM CDT

I think I'd rather have a public option. It doesn't matter what the rescission rates are if you are one of the rescinded and you have cancer.

| 0 minutes ago

polstroad
Oct 14, 09 2:38 PM CDT

There ought not be any exemptions to anti-trust. How can there be monopolies that are legal and then congress tells us about the open free competitive marketplace? Reply

| 0 minutes ago

godawgs
Oct 14, 09 2:50 PM CDT

i see that the flag nazi's made an appearance in an article with a theme of trust busting....ironic... Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Forderon
Oct 14, 09 3:02 PM CDT

I don't know why they were flagged. Some of them had bad language but that's no reason to flag them.

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 14, 09 3:03 PM CDT

The only one I flagged was the one instructing me to perform coprophagia.

| 0 minutes ago

alkaseltzersammich
Oct 14, 09 3:16 PM CDT

The insurance companies have been operating with impuity for years. It's about time we bust em up. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

cornelison
Oct 14, 09 3:19 PM CDT

Just think about how many corporations in America have exemptions. Congress made laws to enrich them. It gives a whole new meaning to the saying, "They know where the bodies are buried." Reply

| 0 minutes ago

SemperFI
Oct 14, 09 3:56 PM CDT

Its about time. Now how about those "loan shark" percentages on credit cards Reply

| 0 minutes ago

Janniel
Oct 14, 09 3:57 PM CDT

Universal heathcare...now please Reply

| 0 minutes ago

polstroad
Oct 14, 09 4:32 PM CDT

the notion that insurance industry profits by adding members is but a part of the truth. They substantially increase profits by culling out those people who might subtract from their profits and thus add healthy folks who are less likely to be costly and so their profits increase. Adding (say) 100 people would be good for an insurance firm. But if 25 of those people are likely to make costly claims--preexisting condition etc--that not taking them on means 75 people who generate profits. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

divetrader
Oct 14, 09 4:42 PM CDT

Baucus is an insider. Why did they give that little man so much power to decide what was best for Americans. Who made him King? Reply

| 0 minutes ago

Monjubikahn
Oct 16, 09 12:10 AM CDT

The Insurance Industry has to be told ... You are a pre existing condition tat the people of The United Sttates of America cannot afford. Nationalize the system and draft all health care professionals into the military and let the Pentagon run the Health Care System. Statesd regulating the Health Care System is not working. Costs wil come down and we can revamp our infrastructure on the savings. The people demand a Junta for Healthcare. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

View all 52 comments »

health insurance • Charles Schumer • Harry Reid • antitrust • regulation • health care reform • insurance industry • health insurance industry

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Dems Lash Out at Insurance Industry

They move to eliminate anti-trust exemption

Senate Democrats Clear
Health Care Hurdle, 60-39

Reid gets 60 votes to open full debate after Thanksgiving recess

MORE ABOUT:
Senate • Harry Reid • Mary Landrieu • health care reform • Blanche Lincoln

Reid Gets 60th Vote:
Holdout Lincoln Agrees

She'll allow health care bill to move forward; vote at 8pm

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Landrieu's Officially In, Leaving Only One Holdout

She'll allow bill to move forward; Blanche Lincoln hasn't tipped her hand

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Landrieu's Officially In, Leaving Only One Holdout

She'll allow bill to move forward; Blanche Lincoln hasn't tipped her hand

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