In the health-care reform debate, the insurance lobby is a wolf in sheep's clothing

[marmar]

from the American Prospect:



Insurance Fraud
In the health-care reform debate, the insurance lobby is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Paul Waldman | August 18, 2009 | web only


When Barack Obama made the election promise of ambitious health-care reform in his first year in office, anyone who had paid attention to the issue would have predicted that the battle would be fierce. But one of the most curious developments of this debate has been that the group one would have thought would be leading the charge against reform – the health-insurance companies – has largely stayed quiet. They haven't aired attack ads, as they did in 1993, nor have they sent their representatives to the talk shows to blast the president and his efforts.

Before we start rethinking whether the insurance companies are as malevolent as they've been made out to be (spoiler alert – yes, they are), it's worth noting just how remarkable their relative absence from this debate has been. Whatever else you can say about them, they're not the ones whipping up fear of "death panels," or comparing Obama to Hitler, or screeching about "socialized medicine." In fact, if you didn't know about their history, you might think they've been desperately hoping for positive change.

When the industry does raise its head, it poses not just as an advocate for reform but as an opponent of its own abuses. Witness this television adfrom America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the insurance company lobby, which must surely stand as one of the most shamelessly hypocritical pieces of advertising in American political history: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=insurance_fraud


"Illness doesn't care where you live," the narrator says sympathetically, "or if you're already sick, or if you lose your job. Your health insurance shouldn't either." The ad ends with the hope that "the words ‘pre-existing condition' (become) a thing of the past." So say the people who won't insure you if you have a pre-existing condition and who will cut you off if you get a serious illness. It's kind of like a gang of home invaders expressing the fervent hope that people will get better alarm systems and stronger deadbolts. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=insurance_fraud

[Laelth]

1. Interesting read. Recommended. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth