BCBSA health reform

BC-BCBSA-health-reform

To: NATIONAL EDITORS

Contact: Jeff Smokler of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association,

+1-202-626-4818, [email protected]

Strong delivery system and carefully crafted insurance reforms critical to

achieving affordability

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Blue Cross and Blue

Shield Association (BCBSA) issued the following statement regarding President

Obama's healthcare reform proposal:

"Reining in healthcare costs, along with improving quality and expanding

coverage to everyone, is a goal that the Blue Cross and Blue Shield

Association (BCBSA) shares with the Obama administration and the Congress. We

agree escalating premiums continue to burden everyone. That's why we have

consistently advocated for healthcare legislation that makes important

insurance and delivery system reforms to make insurance affordable without

jeopardizing the coverage that people enjoy today.

President Obama's proposal to establish a new Health Insurance Rate

Authority ignores the unique cost drivers in each of the 50 state insurance

markets. Several governors from both parties have recently expressed

reservations about a one-size-fits-all approach to healthcare reform.

This new agency, which creates a highly politicized federal review

process, would divorce premium review from the state regulators'

responsibility of assuring that health plans have enough funds to pay future

policyholder claims, potentially leading to multi-plan insolvencies across the

country. The risks of such a proposal - namely undermining the security and

stability of Americans' health insurance - must not be ignored.

Any reform proposal needs to address the underlying drivers of healthcare

costs:

-- Higher prices resulting from cost-shifting by healthcare providers to

the private sector because of government programs underpayments;

higher priced technologies and pharmaceuticals; and reduced provider

competition;

-- Increased utilization attributable to an aging population, rise in

obesity and chronic illnesses, new treatments, more intensive

diagnostic testing, and the practice of defensive medicine; and

-- Lack of care coordination and a delivery system that rewards volume

rather than quality.

We are troubled that several provisions in the president's proposal would

make coverage even more expensive. These provisions include putting new taxes

on people's insurance, requiring many people to buy richer benefit packages

than they do today, and allowing millions of people to forgo coverage until

they are sick - driving up costs for everyone.

We have long supported many insurance reforms included in this proposal,

like guaranteeing coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions, and to not

vary premiums based on health status. This only works if these reforms are

coupled with an effective requirement for everyone to obtain and maintain

coverage.

As new details of the president's proposal emerge, Blue Cross and Blue

Shield companies will remain committed to bipartisan solutions to achieve a

sustainable healthcare system."

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 39

independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield

companies that collectively provide healthcare coverage for more than 100

million members - one-in-three Americans. For more information on the Blue

Cross and Blue Shield Association and its member companies, please visit

http://www.BCBS.com.

SOURCE Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

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