In exchange for a mandate that every American must have health coverage, health insurers said they would no longer charge higher premiums for people in ill health and would abolish coverage exclusions for pre-existing medical conditions, reports The New York Times. The insurance industry’s concession on its rate-setting practice is meant to ward off the possibility that a federal overhaul of the health care system would include a public health plan, which insurers oppose, according to the Times reporting. The offer from insurers, which also included a willingness to accept stringent regulation of benefits and underwriting practices, was made at a Senate HELP committee hearing on Tuesday and in letters signed by the presidents of America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association to two Senate health care committees.
Members of Congress welcomed the overture. Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said, “It indicates that we may be able to have health care reform this year because the major players are stepping up and saying they are willing to play,” according to the Times article. The insurers said, however, that they would still base premiums on age, place of residence and family size, and that they supported giving discounts to subscribers who had healthy lifestyles.
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