That's unfortunate, because many Utahns, including us, would like to see the private sector play a role in health-care reform. Innovation and cost containment are two strengths of a competitive private market. It's what they're good at.
But the private market for health care is broken, and employers and employees alike are angry and frustrated at insurance companies. Ask most insureds and they will tell you that insurance companies seem to spend more money denying claims and coverage than they do providing them.
If insurers don't begin to play a more constructive role in the reform process, they will cut their own throats. If they want Utahns to turn to a single-payer system out of frustration, by all means, they should keep up what they are doing.
We are not alone in this view. Last week, Gov. Jon Huntsman reiterated his call for insurance companies to provide ideas for affordable, streamlined policies that are within the financial reach of more people.
Rep. David Clark, R-Santa Clara, the sponsor of the bill that created the legislative task force, echoed the governor's remarks, charging that insurance companies are afraid to offer bold initiatives.
The insurers reportedly are resisting two pillars of a reform plan. One is a Health Benefits Commission that would define a basic benefit package based on evidence-based medicine. It also would arbitrate coverage decisions. The other pillar is a market facilitator that would collect premiums from multiple employers of a single worker and collect data for product comparison.
By comparison, the reforms the insurers are offering are very narrow. One is ending state coverage mandates that drive up costs. Another is premium discounts for people who take responsibility for their health by not smoking and controlling their weight and cholesterol. Another is a temporary transition policy that would be one-third cheaper than most COBRA coverage and perhaps could be offered to a broader market.
Those may be good ideas, but they are not the kind of big-picture thinking that will get this job done.
