Under the Paperweight, July 12-18, 2009
Most solutions to the big problem of providing affordable health care to all U.S. citizens threaten one of the interest groups (insurers, pharmaceutical companies, health care providers and institutions) benefiting from the current untenable situation. Insurers are first on many people’s lists of a group that should be forced to change, but the proposal currently in Congress actually benefits them.
An employer-provided health insurance mandate will preserve the insurance market’s hold on the healthiest segment of the American population – working people! At the same time it will burden America’s business owners with substantial new employment costs – not at all what our economy needs.
Under the Paperweight this week is just one article on health care reform (in contrast to the 35 articles I listed two weeks ago), a Bill Moyers post contrasting the health care careers of two U.S. citizens: U.S. Surgeon General nominee Regina Benjamin and Edward Hanway, chairman and CEO of CIGNA.
[...] This editor questioned the employer mandate, which has now expanded to an individual mandate as well. Both benefit the insurance industry. Where is there any provision that will mandate cuts in existing premiums? Taxpayers who currently have insurance are likely to see their premiums rise, not fall, according to this LA Times analysis. [...]