John Goodman - NCPA
Texas Insider Report: DALLASÂ Texas Last week the August vacation of Congressional representatives was interrupted and they were called back to Washington. The main reason: to vote on a bill that will prevent the states from cutting off health benefits for millions of people.
The issue that dominated the news was saving the jobs of teachers police officers and other public employees. But most of the money allocated will prevent the states from cutting off health benefits for millions of people.
If that doesnt strike you as strange perhaps you werent paying attention to last years health care debate.
During the year leading up to the final passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) the White House set up a special Web site and invited all Americans to post their own personal stories about insurance
company abuses.
During the days leading up to the final vote on the bill the president and congressional supporters used almost every television opportunity to trot out these cases sometimes in graphic detail.
Yet in all the episodes of abuse do you recall even a single instance where an insurer:
- Arbitrarily dropped coverage for tens of thousands of enrollees with the stroke of a pen just to save money.
- Dropped entire categories of care such as dental care or home health care because it decided these services were too costly?
- Arbitrarily reduced the fees it paid to doctors and hospitals pushing many out of its network and leaving its enrollees with serious access to care problems?
Probably not. For a private insurer each of these activities would be a serious violation of contract.
There is one insurer that does these things routinely.
Its called Medicaid and about half of all the newly insured people under the PPACA will be enrolling in it.
