Health Reform: Public Option Nixed, Agents Welcomed
Published 9/29/2009
WASHINGTON BUREAU -- The Senate Finance Committee has rejected an amendment that
could have created a government-run health insurance system, and it has accepted
an amendment that could let agents participate in a proposed health "exchange" system.
Members voted 10-13 against a "public option" amendment proposed by Sen. Charles
Schumer, D-N.Y., and by a wider margin against a public option amendment proposed
by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
Baucus and Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., joined all Republicans
on the committee in voting against the public option amendments.
The Senate Finance Committee is considering and revising the America's Healthy Future
Act bill, a "chairman’s mark" developed under the direction of Finance Committee
Chairman Max Baucus, D- Mont.
"We are pleased by the rejection of both the Rockefeller and the Schumer amendments
containing public plan options," says Tom Currey, president of the National Association
of Insurance and Financial Advisors, Falls Church, Va. "But, we will continue our
educational efforts. There are currently three other reform proposals with government-run
options, and lawmakers need to understand the negative consequences. A strong private
health insurance system is best equipped to provide options for families and businesses."
America's Health Insurance Plans, Washington, is also welcoming committee rejection
of the amendments.
"The government-run plan is a roadblock to reform," AHIP spokesman Robert Zirkelbach
says. "A new government-run plan would dismantle employer coverage, bankrupt hospitals,
and add to the federal deficit. The same goals can be accomplished by enacting an
overhaul of the market rules and new consumer protections so that nobody falls through
the cracks of our health care system."
AHIP members already have agreed to sell coverage on a guaranteed-issue basis and
to eliminate pre-existing condition exclusions, if the government will discourage
adverse selection by requiring individuals to have health coverage, Zirkelbach says.
"Since the public option would not play on a level playing field with private coverage
and would worsen the current governmentt plan cost shift already exprienced by private
plan customers, we are very pleased with this outcome," says Janet Trautwein, president
of the National Association of Health Underwriters, Arlington, Va. "Government run
plans at all levels increase costs for those covered under private plans by underpaying
providers and being exempt from the fees, taxes, and solvency requirements required
of private plans."
The Senate Finance Committee also pleased producer groups by agreeing to amendments
that would let agents and brokers sell health coverage to individuals, families
and small groups through a proposed health insurance "exchange" system.
The producer access amendment was offered by Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.
The amendment says "exchanges have access to the same industry professionals as
those working outside the exchange."
"Agents do so much more than sell a policy," Carper says in a statement. "The continual
refinement of the proposals to ensure that consumers have access to professional
guidance both inside and outside of exchanges is encouraging."
"The Carper amendment guarantees that individuals and businesses purchasing insurance
through the proposed exchanges have access to the same industry professionals as
those working outside the exchange," says Joel Kopperud, a director in the legislative
affairs unit at the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, Washington. "We are
very grateful to Senator Carper for recognizing and preserving the value of agent's
expertise."
At NAIFA, Currey says the Carper amendment is consistent with amendments to health
reform bills adopted by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
and by the House Energy and Commerce Committee..
"Numerous amendments to the bill are still pending," Currey says. "However, NAIFA
is pleased that the Carper amendment recognizes the valuable role that agents play
in helping consumers with their insurance choices."
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