At a Senate Finance Committee meeting today in Washington, D.C., health insurance companies are offering new concessions as they try to persuade Congress not to set up a government health plan to compete against them. President Barack Obama and many Democrats favor such a plan, but the companies say it would drive them out of business.
According to The Associated Press, the industry offered to do away with an insurance surcharge that affects 5.7 million women, many of them self-employed and needing to buy their own coverage. Insurers are also offering to accept stricter government rules they contend would add up to a fairer marketplace and cut into the ranks of the 50 million uninsured. Insurers have already offered to stop denying coverage to sick people, and to end the practice of charging higher premiums to those with a history of health problems. In exchange, the industry wants Congress to require all Americans to carry health insurance, either through an employer plan, on their own, or a current government program like Medicaid. Finance Committee leaders want to bring a bill to the Senate floor this summer.
