Obama Critical Of Health Insurers, Not Insistent On Public Plan Option

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 20 Oct 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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President Obama said on Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address that the U.S. is now closer to overhauling the health care industry than at any other point in history, but he warned that the health insurance industry is determined "to kill reform at any cost," the Washington Post's "44" reports (Fletcher, "44," Washington Post, 10/17). "[F]or decades, whenever we have tried to reform the system, the insurance companies have done everything in their considerable power to stop us," he said (AP/MSNBC, 10/17).

Obama criticized two insurance industry studies -- one by America's Health Insurance Plans and the other by BlueCross BlueShield -- released over the last two weeks. Both studies claimed that the Senate Finance Committee bill would increase insurance premiums. White House officials and congressional Democrats labeled the studies as attempts to mislead the public. Independent analysts said the reports either do not take into account or underestimate certain sections of the bill, according to the Post. Obama said of the studies, "It's smoke and mirrors. It's bogus. And it's all too familiar" ("44," Washington Post, 10/17). Obama then warned insurers, saying that "they're earning ... profits and bonuses while enjoying a privileged exception from our antitrust laws, a matter that Congress is rightfully reviewing" (Henderson, Politico, 10/17).

White House Says Public Plan Not a Necessity

A number of White House officials appeared on Sunday news programs, saying that Obama continues to support a public plan option but is not insistent on its inclusion in a final reform bill. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on CBS' "Face the Nation" said that Obama thinks the public plan option is "important for competition" but that "it doesn't define the entire process of health care" (Silvassy, CQ Today, 10/18). Senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett on NBC's "Meet the Press" said that Obama thinks it is "the best possible choice" but that he will consider other ideas (Toeplitz, Roll Call, 10/18).

White House adviser David Axelrod on ABC's "This Week" said, "The president has very consistently and clearly articulated his support for a public option." However, he added, "That doesn't mean we halt the [reform] process. There are people in the Senate -- Republicans and Democrats -- who have objections" to the public plan. He added, "We have to work through these issues, and we're going to do that" (CQ Today, 10/18).

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