DEL.ICIO.USHEALTH / INSURANCE
Health insurers offer to accept all applicants, on condition
New York Times
Thursday, November 20, 2008
WASHINGTON — The health insurance industry said Wednesday that it supported an overhaul of the health care system that would require insurers to accept all customers, regardless of illness or disability. But in return, insurers said, Congress should require that all Americans have coverage.
The proposals, put forward by the two main trade associations for the industry, have the potential to reshape and advance the debate over universal health insurance just as President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office.
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In separate actions, the two trade groups, America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, announced their support for guaranteed coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions, in conjunction with an enforceable mandate for individual coverage.
In the absence of such a mandate, insurers said, many people will wait until they get sick to buy insurance.
Members of Congress said Wednesday that they wanted to pass legislation to expand coverage and rein in health costs next year, as proposed by Obama.
The new position taken by the insurance industry — the industry that helped sink President Bill Clinton’s plan for universal health coverage in 1994 — could ease the way for passage of such legislation.
The position of the insurance industry differs from that of Obama in one significant respect. Insurers want the government to require everyone to have and maintain insurance. By contrast, Obama would — at least initially — apply the requirement only to children.
In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, this was a major point of contention between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. She said that everyone should be required to have coverage. Obama said he wanted to be certain that insurance was affordable and available to all before considering such a broad requirement.
Asked for reaction to the insurance industry statements, Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the Obama transition team, said, “We are declining comment.” He cited Obama’s view that “we have only one president at a time.”
People with cancer, diabetes, traumatic brain injuries and other serious conditions have found, in many cases, that they cannot obtain health insurance at any price.
Research suggests that some insurers turn down 10 percent or more of applicants for individual coverage because of their pre-existing medical conditions.
Donald G. Hamm Jr., president of Assurant Health, a unit of Assurant Inc., explained why an individual mandate must be coupled with any ban on such underwriting practices.
“In the individual market, people can choose whether or not to apply for coverage,” Hamm said in an interview. “If they know they can obtain coverage at any time, many will wait until they get sick to apply for it. That increases the price for everyone.”
Insurers say that is just what happened in several states that prohibited insurers from turning down applicants based on their health status.
The new policy statements are silent on two important issues: How to enforce an individual mandate and how to regulate insurance prices, or premiums.
While insurers would be required to sell insurance to any applicant, nothing would guarantee that consumers could afford it. Rate regulation promises to be a contentious issue, since it often pits the financial interests of insurers against those of consumers.
Insurance premiums are generally regulated by the states and often vary according to a person’s age, sex, medical history and place of residence within a state. In the individual market in most states, a person with a history of serious or chronic illness can be charged much more than a healthy person of the same age and sex.
Hamm, a member of the board of America’s Health Insurance Plans, said the group might offer recommendations in the future to define “a fair and appropriate rating structure.”
Alissa Fox, a vice president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, said the individual mandate was an indispensable corollary of any policy that forbids insurers to reject applicants on account of their health status.
“Insurance works best when everyone is in the pool,” Fox said. “You need healthy people in the insurance pool to help pay for sicker individuals who are much more motivated to buy coverage.”
Insurers did not say how they would enforce an individual mandate — whether through fines or tax penalties, as a condition for getting driver’s licenses or by other means. Politicians have also been reluctant to specify details of enforcement, which could prove highly unpopular.
Setting aside such thorny issues, seven senators responsible for health legislation met Wednesday and promised to work together. Those participating were Sens. Max Baucus of Montana, Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, all Democrats, and Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, Republicans.
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