Ignani defends AHIP study

Posted: Monday, October 12, 2009 5:10 PM by firstread

by NBC's Ali Weinberg
Karen Ignagni, the president of insurance lobby America's Health Insurance Plans, said that an AHIP-sponsored study released today warning of increased premiums under current health reform proposals did not represent a rift with the White House after almost a year of working to find compromises on health care legislation.

Relations with the Obama administration are "very consistent with the beginning of the year--well, now more than a year ago," Ignagni said in a conference call with reporters.

Ignagni also defended PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the firm who conducted the study and whose methodology has already been questioned by the White House and leading health care reporters who say it makes far-flung assumptions about changes in the health care system in response to new policies.

"PWC is a world class firm," Ignagni said. "They have a stellar reputation and they have proceeded to do this analysis in a thorough and comprehensive way."

One objection to the study is that it does not recognize insurance companies' expected driving down health insurance costs to avoid a proposed tax on expensive plans.

White House assistant press secretary Reid Cherlin said the study "conveniently ignores critical policies that will lower costs for those who have insurance, expand coverage and provide affordable health insurance options to millions of Americans who are priced out of today's health insurance market or are locked out by unfair insurance company practices."

Ignagni reiterated the insurance industry's main concern about health care reform: getting all players in the medical world to find ways to bend the cost curve. She stressed the need to "encourage all the other stakeholders to participate in a broader effort so that they can too lend a hand and get costs under control in a much more effective way than we would," adding, "We don't see comprehensive cost control in any legislation."

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Comments

Obama's guys claimed that without the stimulus bill unemployment would go above 8%. Well its almost 10% and really higher when measured by the same measurements used by the press when GWB was in ofice.

Paul (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 4:09 PM)
________________________

Oh Boy... here we go AGAIN...

Since Nash is taking the day off...I'll ask you this AGAIN Paul... maybe you're brighter than the rest of the dim bulbs that keep repeating this bold faced LIE!

PROVE IT! Show us ONE source to back up that statement... Just ONE...

'You can't because there isn't ANY - it WAS NEVER said'!

We'll be waiting...Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 5:20 PM)

There are those stubborn and obnoxious obstructionists who creatively use every bazaar reason to block all efforts and then they have the nerve to criticize any delay in progress. They are always quick to fault and fail to ever make any constructive contribution. Anyone that buys into that illogical subterfuge has a real problem with their reasoning (or lack thereof) and is simply rationalizing their prejudices, their biases and emotional attachments which then just renders them irrational. They are simply being pawns manipulated, as we saw so often and suffered the consequences of in 2000 – 2008, for the benefit of Special Interests and the select few who control the ‘puppet’ politicians who have no conscience or any real concern for the majority. Those who accept the deception are really just a major part of the problem and when they reason that the critics are allies in being Republican or conservative or whatever, it really doesn’t change the stupidity in that they are literally just being used.

REG in AZ (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 5:20 PM)

Obama will be thrown out in 2012 but not soon enough for he and his leftist advisers to do long term damage to the country.America is resilient but not bulletproof and the lefties we elected are planning to hurt our country permanently.
Paul (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 4:09 PM
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Was drama your major in junior high?

Were you the *star* in "Chicken Little"

Better stock up on plastic wrap - duct tape - bottled water and cracked corn!

Chicken Soup is TOXIC to Republicans Souls!!! (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 5:21 PM)

AHIP commissions a study, and Price-Whorehouse delivers.

They must be losing faith in Sen. Faucus.

JC from IA (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 5:22 PM)

The easy answer is to negotiate with the insurance industry with the public option back on the table. What they seem to want is to not have to compromise and just gain everywhere, not giving anything.

REG in AZ (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 5:24 PM)

Trusting the insurance industry to review health care reform is like trusting a five deferrment draft dodger with a shotgun. Something bad is bound to happen.

Scooter (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 5:25 PM)

When public employers want to hold down costs, they freeze public salaries and hand out furloughs. It's about time that this kind of principle was applied in the health care industry. What's so hard to understand here? Implement controls. Under what set of circumstances does a health care CEO -- not even a medical professional -- deserve to earn $57,000 an hour ... more than the average teacher makes in a year -- while people are losing their homes because of skyrocketing health care costs? What interest does that serve except for greed?

We are totally out of whack in this country and screwed if we keep letting this happen. In short, we're screwed.

Anna Molly (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 5:26 PM)

Health Reform is bad. Oh, and Iraq had WMD. And, we don't torture. And, Larry Craig likes women. And, Sarah Palin is a genius. And, Mark Foley doesn't want to have sex with Congressional Pages.

The GOP (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 5:29 PM)

Of course the Insurance industry's study won't be positive! Just like when United Health had their group The Lewin Group do the study about how many people would join the public option. Of course, the Republicans won't hesitate to use propaganda that is provided by the insurance industry, as they did with the Lewin study.

At the end of the day, the insurance industry is playing with fire. This is just more reason to support a public option. It appears they won't reduce the costs of their plans, even if everyone is mandated to have coverage. With their profits and increased customers, there is NO REASON that they should have to raise prices to that extent.

Public Option Now!

Chandler, Los Angeles, CA (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 5:37 PM)

Also overlooked in the PWC evaluation is the fact that since 2001, 352,000 Americans have been killed by Health Insurance Lobbyists because of no action on reform during that time, as well as the failure to extend health insurance to the currently "Uninsured". As one website pointed out, "That makes them - stastically speaking - a greater threat to Americans than Al-Qaeida." Remember, 2000 people died on 9/11 at the hands of Al-Qaeida - 352,000 have died at the hands of insurance companies since 2001. Who cares what their paid bean-counters say! Death stastics say more than any cost estimate.

DianeR PCFL (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 5:37 PM)

Based on the Obama administration's past history on forecasting numbers and making promises that are grossly miscalculated, I would tend to believe the AHIP study way before I would believe any of the tax cheats in Obie's administration, crooks in Congress, or Obie's patient-dumping-scheme wifey.

Keep the Change (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 5:38 PM)

Arthur Andersen had a stellar reputation too; prior to sleeping with Enron Execs (Kenneth Lay). Everybody has a price, and let's face it PWC is right in the name!

As a former Big 6, now Big 4 Accountant, I assure you - AHIP paid for an outcome and PWC was more than willing to work within the very strict guidelines of the outcome. There would be no critical thinking outside the very narrowly defined - find the loop hole and shine a big ugly spotlight on it, by Monday, for a fee.

Clara Kansas City, MO (Sent Monday, October 12, 2009 6:06 PM)

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