Health insurers in the mix
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I AM not surprised that the CEO of the health insurance lobby, Karen Ignagni, wants US health reform to mandate that everyone in the country purchase insurance and that there not be any public option (“Insurance figure at center of health debate,’’ Page A1, June 30).
If I sold cars, I’d love it if the government dictated that everyone had to purchase a car. I’d feel like I’d gone to heaven if the government didn’t manufacture a competitor. If I made iPods, I’d adore my government if it required everyone to purchase them, as long as I was not undersold by less expensive government options.
Almost everyone I know has an insurance horror story - “I’m sorry, but that service is not covered’’ - so why can’t more Americans see through the health insurance lobby’s desire to have a lock on the market? If they get it, they will further run roughshod over America’s health, saving money by denying care as often as possible, and keeping us as under-treated and sick as possible.
Dr. J. Wesley Boyd
Needham
The writer is staff psychiatrist at Cambridge Health Alliance and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
THE JUNE 25 editorial “Calculating insurance interests’’ fails to reflect the experience in Massachusetts and the commitment by health plans in this state to ensuring access to coverage for all Americans. The examples cited, including canceling coverage for unrelated medical reasons and collecting health status information, have been prohibited in this state for nearly 20 years.
Massachusetts is home to some of the country’s best health plans in terms of clinical quality and member satisfaction. Our plans along with several national plans have been involved in outlining a series of comprehensive reforms as part of the discussion in Washington. Included are many of the consumer protections already in place in Massachusetts, such as guaranteeing access to coverage regardless of health status, an enforceable individual mandate, and ensuring that consumers can renew their coverage regardless of medical history.
Rather than imposing a government-run health plan that would dismantle employer-based coverage and turn back the clock on quality, we believe that the approaches our industry has outlined will give the American people peace of mind and help the nation achieve universal coverage.
Dr. Marylou Buyse
President and CEO
Massachusetts Association of Health Plans
Boston
