Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

Assessing Obama’s Divergence From McCain, Pt.7 – Harmony between government and industry.

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Perhaps the biggest regulation issue Mr. Obama will have to face is the ‘cover all’ mandate. This would be a requirement that the health insurance industry not deny any American from getting health insurance coverage. Paul Fronstin is the director of health research programs for the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI is a nonprofit and non-partisan group, well-versed in the relationship between the health insurance industry, the government and the public. The big concern, as Mr. Fronstin sees it is that when government gets too strict with the insurance industry, the industry retaliates by opting out. This has happened time and time again in situations like the hurricane devastations in Florida and Mississippi. Industry simply ceases to offer coverage in those areas where it hurts their bottom line.

It should go without saying that all the major players are mature enough to realize the need for negation and compromise and agree that it’s time to come together for meaningful discussion. Mr. Obama has already conceded that one-sided negotiations won’t work. Although he is calling on the health insurance industry to be willing to cover every American and deny none, he’s not asking the industry to hurt itself. In order to share the brunt of our national health insurance/care crisis, he offers that the government will bare the brunt of the worst cases. Those would the catastrophic ones, where costs can suddenly skyrocket out of control.

Another very important aspect of this issue is the serious concern for the health insurance industry that, if they submit to cover the most expensive and risky people and the less risky people decide to opt out of health insurance, the providers will be left with only the most expensive clients.

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