Facts You Won’t See on the Nightly News – Part 2

Letter to the Editor, Submitted 10/5/10 – Des Moines Register declined to publish

In a recent editorial, the Des Moines Register criticized Iowa poll respondents who dislike the new health care reform bill for not understanding specific details in the law. Given that the legislation is over 2,000 pages long, one might forgive the public for not knowing every detail. As Nancy Pelosi famously said during the debate, “We have to pass the bill so we can find out what’s in it.” The reality is that the more people learn, the more frustrated they become.

For example, Iowa employers who have been receiving their annual health insurance renewals now understand that President Obama’s much publicized insistence that, “If you like your current plan, you can keep it” is a lie. Many of the reforms in the bill impact health plans and raise costs even if your plan can remain “grandfathered.” Still more changes will occur if your plan loses its grandfathered status, and the way the rules are set up, precious few plans will be able to avoid the costly mandates contained in the law.

The Register’s editorial chastises the public for believing that the new law would raise taxes in 2010. While it’s true the law does not create new taxes in 2010, the public is now learning that beginning in 2011, the law systematically raises taxes all over the board to the tune of $438 billion over the next ten years. Given the state of the economy, the public has a right to be concerned about almost a half trillion dollars in new taxes.
The Register editorial also points out that the law is intended to lower the deficit by $124 billion over the next ten years. But Iowans, by and large, are not suckers: they know when something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Lowering the deficit would require that we realize the almost $500 billion in savings the law projects from Medicare. However, Medicare already operates in the red, and the health care bill contains no meaningful reforms that will lower costs. Instead, Iowans understand that Congress will do what they have always done and continue to override scheduled cuts in payments to Medicare doctors and other providers. The net result? The law will not only raise taxes but also massively increase the deficit.

Iowans are also quickly learning other examples of the law’s destabilizing impact. One example – in Iowa, every carrier except Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa has quit offering dependent-only coverage because they can no longer underwrite those policies. Here’s a guess: Blue Cross won’t allow itself to be the only carrier who must take on unknown risks without adequate premiums forever. And when that happens, there will be no carriers in Iowa who write dependent-only policies.

Last week, Iowans also learned that Principal is leaving the health insurance business, costing Des Moines 1,500 jobs. In addition, we learned that Iowa Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss recently asked Health and Human Services to delay the Medical Loss Ratio guidelines in Iowa until 2014. Why? Because without that extension still more carriers will exit the Iowa marketplace. Most Iowans understand the value of competition and that less and less competition in Iowa’s insurance market seems an odd recipe for lowering costs.

While the Register chastises the public for not seeing the health care reform bill through rose-colored glasses, I on the other hand give the public credit. As the public has learned more, they are starting to realize that the law will raise insurance premiums, raise taxes, increase the deficit, and leave us in worse shape than ever. Like most Iowans, I have always supported genuine reform that streamlines the delivery of health care, lowers costs, and creates a sensible, fair market. This law does none of those things and should be repealed.