Editorials, Opinion Pieces Address Association Health Plan Legislation

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 08 May 2006 - 17:00 PDT

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Several newspapers recently published editorials and opinion pieces about a bill (SB 1955), sponsored by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) that would allow small businesses and trade associations to partner to offer group health plans on a statewide or nationwide basis. Summaries appear below.

Editorials

• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: "Pass the Enzi Bill and ... small businesses would save 12%on health insurance premiums," a Democrat-Gazette editorial states, adding, "Even more important, some 900,000 uninsured folks would finally get coverage," the Democrat-Gazette editorial states. A separate AHP bill (SB 2510), sponsored by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), "meanwhile, sounds like an expensive, bureaucratic pain in the pocketbook," the editorial concludes (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 5/2).
  


• Eugene Register-Guard: The Enzi bill "has the potential to take more away from Oregonians than it offers," and Oregon lawmakers "should oppose it," according to a Register-Guard editorial. The legislation "does nothing to address the underlying inflation that's driving up the cost of health insurance everywhere," the editorial states, adding, "Its benefits to small businesses are more than offset by the loss of years of important reform and regulation of the insurance industry by the states" (Eugene Register-Guard, 5/3).
  


• Oregonian: "A 'yes' vote on SB 1955, in effect, would unroll those necessary, humane improvements in health insurance coverage offered in Oregon," and "all for the sake of a relatively minor efficiency for insurers," an Oregonian editorial states. "Oregon's citizens are better served by the system enacted by its own representatives," the editorial adds (Oregonian, 5/1).
  

Opinion Pieces

• Bruce Koeppl, Des Moines Register: The Enzi bill is "problematic for three reasons," Koeppl, Iowa state director for AARP, writes in a Register opinion piece. According to Koeppl, the legislation would place employees older than age 50 at risk for higher health insurance premiums, limit the authority of the Iowa Insurance Division and eliminate state benefit requirements. "Unfortunately, the current proposal would likely make matters worse," he writes (Koeppl, Des Moines Register, 5/4).
  
  
• Tom Stevens, The Hill: Passage of the Enzi bill "seems logical, but special interests ... are hard at work raising roadblocks and spreading misconceptions that could thwart the will of the majority," Stevens, president of the National Association of Realtors, writes in a Hill opinion piece. "What could be more important than" the passage of legislation that "is critically important to the well-being of 45 million uninsured Americans and ... millions of small businesses?" Stevens asks (Stevens, The Hill, 5/2).
  

"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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