Consumer Watchdog To Obama Administration: No More Health Reform Waivers
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A watchdog group is demanding a stop to waivers that would exempt states from health care reform requirements after the Obama administration's recent decision to grant Maine's request for one on behalf of a notorious "junk insurer."
In a letter sent to the Department of Health and Human Services, Consumer Watchdog urged the agency to oppose Anthem’s attempt to evade medical spending rules in New Hampshire, which require insurers to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on health care.
Here's a portion of the letter:
“It is not your job to preserve the status quo for companies as they operate in the market today. The standard for granting a state waiver should be whether consumers will be able to access insurance when the rules are implemented, not whether they will cause a shift in the market as more efficient insurers increase their business and more wasteful insurers clean up their act. The fact that some insurers will have to reduce administrative spending and profits to reach a minimum level of efficiency was the reason Congress enacted the medical loss ratio standard.”“The New Hampshire waiver application comes down to Anthem: Is Anthem so incapable of providing better health coverage to consumers that it will quit selling insurance or increase premiums to the point that consumers can no longer afford it?” “How could Anthem be reducing administrative spending and profits to move closer to the required loss ratio? Has the company made any efforts to do so? It doesn’t appear that these basic questions were asked.”“New Hampshire’s proposed solution, to preserve the status quo by setting medical loss ratios at 70% for three years, raises another question. What is the incentive for Anthem to move closer to the 80% target if they are allowed to continue business as usual for the next three years?”
Today, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), which oversees offshore drilling, issued additional guidance summarizing and clarifying previously-issued offshore deepwater drilling safety requirements. Essentially, the document outlines its process for reviewing subsea containment plans for deepwater operations -- and does not contain any additional regulatory requirements. As Maritime Reporter notes, it "provides clarifying information to assist the oil and gas industry in complying with existing regulations and guidance."
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First Posted: 03/29/11 01:58 PM ET Updated: 05/29/11 06:12 AM ET