Schumer Plan Riles Health Insurance Lobby
"Schumer is in fact proposing a real public health insurance plan — government run and a strong competitor with private insurance. And most importantly, Schumer's vision breaks the monopoly of private insurance, and this is the main standard on which a public health insurance plan proposal should be judged ... What is really telling is the reaction of the insurance industry to this compromise:" HCAN's Jason Rosenbaum; "[Top insurance lobbyist Karen] Ignagni's sense of fair competition is itself unfair. Ignagni does not want a new public health insurance plan to have any inherent advantages, but she's insisting that private insurers preserve their advantage to create provider networks and enter or exit markets as they wish, etc. As Schumer pointed out, 'it's sort of as if you're saying well the public advantages we should get rid of, but the private advantages we should keep. Let them compete.'": Wonk Room's Igor Volsky; "Insurance Lobby Outlines a Strategic Retreat": CQ Politics; "On Wednesday, Grassley will join Baucus for a face-to-face meeting with President Obama on health reform at the White House ...Grassley wants to stick with Baucus for as long as he can but knows that Democratic leaders such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel are waiting in the wings, ready to force through a Democratic bill if a consensus fails to emerge.": The Hill.