Yesterday the nation’s largest health insurance trade group, the America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), unveiled its proposal for major reform of the U.S. health care sector. AHIP President Karen Ignagni told the Los Angeles Times, “The nation is on the eve of a national discussion about healthcare. This comes around once every generation.”
Indeed, health care reform was a major theme in President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign. During the campaign, Obama pledged to build a health care system in which Americans can be assured of access to affordable health insurance; to use the health system that members of Congress have as a model for expanding coverage; and that Americans who already have insurance would be able to keep it and at a lower cost. These laudable themes struck a chord with Americans.
Achieving these goals at the same time will be difficult, and some truly bad public policy ideas will have to be opposed. For example, the AHIP plan insists on a mandate forcing all Americans to buy health insurance. Continue reading . . .
