Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Health Insurance & Capitol Hill, Pt.5 – Who’s behind this mandate bill?

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Quizzed on the subject of mandatory health insurance and the fact that no one else is promoting that any more, Mr. Wyden ‘diplomatically’ explains: “Both the pro-mandate and the anti-mandate people have valid arguments.” His personal peeve is over what Mr. Romney calls ‘free-riders’. That is when someone could easily buy their own health insurance but, instead, chooses the free ride of the ER for the ‘free service’. Of course the treatment expense has to be picked by some else. Mr. Romney and the creators of the Massachusetts health insurance/care model attacked the ‘free-rider’ problem at the onset. They actually resolved it completely and were pleased to appreciate many side benefits in the aftermath. For the fascinating story on how they overcame this very troubling problem, please refer to the article series entitled “Mass. Health, A Creator Explains”.

Even with some faulty connections in the logic, one impressive attribute about Mr. Wyden’s proposition is that it is supported equally on both sides of the fence. Of the 16 co-sponsors, 8 are Democrats, while the other 8 are…well, you guessed it anyway. One key ‘champion’ of the plan is the ranking Republican in the powerful Finance Committee, Chuck Grassley. This man has a ‘passion’ for health insurance/care agendas. One notable anomaly, though, is the absence of Senator Kennedy. Teddy chairs a key Senate Health Committee and was the one who called on health reform in the Senate. He is the person Senator Wyden calls “the captain of the team” when it comes to health insurance/care reform issues. Teddy is presently out and about in the wider arena, meeting with “congressional staff (including from Obama’s office) as well as various stakeholders including doctor’s groups and health-care coalitions,” as Mr. Goldstein explains it.

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