Beyond the nomination of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the Wall Street Journal notes former opponents are now in support of major healthcare reform.
The insurance industry says it’s OK with a health insurance mandate. Big Pharma’s lobbyists have an ad out about affordable health insurance.
But what about the sausage-making specifics?
Well:
“Talk is cheap on the front end of this thing,” said Robert Laszewski, a health care consultant and former insurance industry official. "The rubber hits the road when that 1,000-page document comes out with specifics.
That said, America's Health Insurance Plans, the health insurance industry’s professional group, is already on the ground with its version of a mandate system.
Here’s my first sneak peak at the “sausage” issue.
The insurance industry is going to view sick people as akin to the “stranded costs” of electric utilities with old power plants. They’re going to want government dinero, and that’s why they’re out front on this issue.
Big Pharma? They’ll want to be funded separately, kind of like Germany, where prescription coverage is separate from hospitals/doctors.
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