Secretary Sebelius Dismisses Legal Challenges To Health Care Reform

By Chingyu Wang-Talk Radio News Service

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Tuesday dismissed the legal challenges against the recently passed health care reform law.

"We are confident that the legal standing of the law is solid and this has more to do with politics and policy," said Sebelius during an appearance at the National Press Club. "Our job is to really focus on talking to American people about what really is in the bill, how the law will work to their benefits, what's available for them and that's where we are going to spend our time and energy."

Attorneys general from 14 states have filed lawsuits against the new law on the basis that a mandate requiring individual's to purchase insurance violates the constitution.

Sebelius noted that she believes there is significant political motivation for the 14 attorney generals.

"I think that the vast majority of lawsuits have been filed by attorney generals in states where they have also some interest in higher office," said Sebelius.

Anthem Customers Say Their Provider Began Raising Premiums In 2009

By Chingyu Wang - Talk Radio News Service

WellPoint, Inc., California's largest individual health insurer, as well as the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross, was accused of profiteering during a hearing on Wednesday before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Though the news that Anthem Blue Cross in California had decided to raise premiums broke recently, several witnesses from the state of California testified that their provider has been raising its premiums since March 2009.

"In March 2009, Anthem raised those premiums to $231 per month, or $2772 or year - an increase of 26%," said Jeremy Arnold, a self-employed writer from Los Angeles. "In January 2010, Anthem informed me that my rates were going up again, to $319 per month, or $3828 per year - a further increase of 38%."

Committee Members expressed alarm over the fact that WellPoint increased some rates as much as 64% to help pay for large executive salaries and employee retreats.

"Between 2007 and 2008, WellPoint spent over $27 million to host 103 executive retreats," said Congressman Gene Green (D-Texas). "In 2008, during the high of the recession, WellPoint paid over $1.3 million to host 360 attendees at the Four Season Hotel in San Diego."

The committee cited data showing that WellPoint paid its top executives over $347 million in 2007 and 2008 combined. In 2008, WellPoint paid $115 million to 85 senior executives, according to the data.

WellPoint President/CEO Angela Braly, who received stock compensation valuing $8.5 million, and a salary of $1.1 million in 2009 alone, defended the rate increases, attributing them to market conditions.

"The increases in premium costs are driven by prices charged by clinicians, hospitals, medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and other suppliers in health care that are accelerating much faster than general inflation," Braly said.

Braly also invoked the struggling economy during her defense of the rate hikes, explaining that because younger and healthier policyholders have dropped their insurance, "there are fewer policyholders among whom to spread risk, and those remaining have higher health care costs. The result is higher premiums for those left in the pool."

House Will Strip Antitrust Protection For Health Insurance Companies, Says Pelosi

By Chingyu Wang - Talk Radio News Service

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that she and other Democrats in the House will try to pass the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act tomorrow. The bill would remove antitrust protections for the major health insurance companies.

"This bill is about restoring competition, fairness, and choice to the health insurance industry. After 65 years, it is now time for the unfair advantage insurance companies have held over American families and small businesses to end," said Pelosi. "We have set a better legislation. It's about affordability for the middle class, it's about accessibility of many more people to health care, and affordability is central to that."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he is optimistic about the bill's chances of passing when it is brought to the House floor tomorrow.

"I'm confident it'll pass, and I surely hope that it passes with a significant bipartisan vote," said Hoyer.

Former insurance executive Wendell Potter viewed the legislation as a major step toward ending what he described as the profit domination of seven major companies in the health insurance field.

"In my view it's a beginning comprehensive reform that will benefit average Americans, working individuals and families more than the big insurance companies," said Potter.

New Health And Human Services Report Claims Health Care Reform Will Create Jobs, Boost Income

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Friday lauded a new report compiled by HHS that claims health care reform will boost employment and raise individual families' incomes.

“Lots of families are looking into the future and asking what is it that happens to them when Congress passes health reform. The biggest change is that under reform families will have a lot more security and stability in the health insurance system than they have today,” Sebelius said.

The new report, entitled “Protecting Families and Putting More Money in Your Pocket: How Health Insurance Reform Will Lower Costs and Increase Choices,” states that "lowering health care costs by one percent will create 320,000 jobs nationwide and raise median family income by $6,800 by 2030."

The secretary also outlined the benefits the Senate's pending health care reform bill will bring to American families.

“If you lose your health insurance, it’s a lot easier to find a new policy. You don’t have to make 25 different phone calls to find coverage. It will be a new market place, called an exchange, where you can compare plans and rates and make some choices,” Sebelius stated.

She added, “there are basic rules that will apply to companies offering plans in the exchange. They can’t deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions, they can’t deny coverage once you have it, you can’t put a cap on benefits. That’s a huge change for American families, even those who have insurance today.”

Small Business Owners Make Case For Insurance Reform Before Senate HELP Committee

By Ravi Bhatia-Talk Radio News Service

Small business owners testified in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Tuesday in an attempt by the committee to find methods for reducing the ever-increasing health insurance costs facing small businesses.

“Today, I’m announcing my own investigation into the pricing practices of health insurance companies that sell policies to small businesses,” said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), HELP Committee Chairman. “Health insurance companies should open their books, explain to the American people why they support a health insurance market for small businesses that is so dysfunctional and so lacking in transparency.”

Harkin argued that the legislation presented by the Senate would create health insurance exchanges that pool small business together and increase competition, also making health insurance more transparent.

“Small businesses pay 18 percent more then large businesses for exactly same insurance plan and coverage. The [exact] same policy,” he said.

Art Cullen, editor of the Storm Lake Times in Storm Lake, Iowa, accepted a $5,000 deductible on services provided by a hospital in order to keep costs manageable for his small business. The deductible forces cancer patients covered by the policy to pay $2,500 out-of-pocket for a shot at a local hospital - or to drive to the next town in order to pay $25 for the same shot at a clinic. The insurance prices, he said, drive down the potential revenue that the town could have earned from treating the patient at the local hospital.

“We need more insurance competition in the rural marketplace by knocking down state cartels,” he said. “We need to know that a single health catastrophe will not bankrupt us and bring down everything we have worked for over the past 20 years.”

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, Chair of the National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners, said that the cost of health care is rising rapidly and that insurance companies have little ability to address the issues.

“The challenge moving forward will be to overhaul the delivery system to promote prevention, quality and results-based care to encourage healthy lifestyles and to eliminate waste and fraud in the system,” said Praeger. “The difficulties in the small group market, as in the individual market, are ultimately the result of medical spending that has outstripped the ability of most Americans to pay for it.”