Bipartisan Health Care Summit

A week from today, the White House will host a televised health summit with top Democratic and Republican leaders, in hopes of coming up with a deal to move forward with health care reform. House and Senate Democratic leaders have been crafting a proposal, and President Obama is expected to release a single Democratic plan for reform on Monday. There is currently an effort on the part of Democratic Senators to allow a vote in the reconciliation process to pass a public option. As of now, 18 Democratic Senators have signed a letter requesting the vote, and more are expected to sign. So far, Republicans have not submitted proposals to move forward on health care.

While our families, hospitals, and state and local governments continue to struggle with out of control health care costs, health insurance companies are reaping massive profits. The profits of the 5 largest health insurance companies increased 56%.

If our broken health care system is not reformed, American families will continue to see staggering health care costs and will remain at risk of losing their health care. The head of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners predicts that consumers in several states are about to get hit with increases of “20, 25, 30 percent.” Hospitals will continue to be burdened with tens of billions of dollars of uncompensated care to uninsured and underinsured patients.

Insurers across the country are spiking their rates despite the recession:

• In 2009, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan requested approval for premium increases of 56 percent for plans sold on the individual market.
• Anthem of Connecticut requested an increase of 24 percent last year, which was rejected by the state.
• In Maine, Anthem Blue Cross is seeking to raise rates by 23 percent this year---after jacking up their rates 32 percent last year.
• Regency Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oregon requested a 20-percent premium increase.
• UnitedHealth, Tufts, and Blue Cross requested 13- to 16-percent rate increases in Rhode Island.
• And rates for some individual health plans in Washington increased by up to 40 percent until Washington State imposed stiffer premium regulations.

It is time to pass health insurance reform that will rein in insurance companies, provide more affordable options, protect Americans from abusive insurance company practices and restrict how much of your premium dollars can be spent on profits and overhead.