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Posts Tagged ‘AHIP’
October 12th, 2009 at 10:59 am
The Baucus Bill: Bending the Cost Curve Higher for American Families

With the Senate Finance Committee set to vote tomorrow on Senator Max Buacus’ $839 billion “health care reform” bill, the health insurance industry is out with a new study warning that the legislation will dramatically increase health insurance premiums for U.S. families.  

The study, commissioned by America’s Health Insurance Plans (“AHIP”) and prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, “makes clear that several major provisions in the current legislative proposal will cause health care costs to increase far faster and higher than they would under the current system,”  said AHIP President and CEO Karen Ignagni. “Between 2010 and 2019 the cumulative increases in the cost of a typical family policy under this reform proposal will be approximately $20,700 more than it would be under the current system.”

Those provisions in the Baucus bill analyzed by the study include:

  • Insurance market reforms coupled with a weak coverage requirement,
  • A new tax on high-cost health care plans,
  • Cost-shifting as a result of cuts to Medicare, and
  • New taxes on several health care sectors.

The White House and Congressional proponents of “reform” immediately responded with a typical “shoot-the-messenger” reaction.   They have yet to substantively dispute the study’s actual findings.

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