…as long as insurance companies aren’t let off the hook.
Senior House Democrats have largely abandoned hopes of including a government-run insurance option in the final compromise health care bill taking shape, according to several officials, and are pushing for other measures to rein in private insurers.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior Democrats told President Barack Obama in recent meetings they want the legislation to strip the insurance industry of a long-standing exemption from federal antitrust laws,officials said. That provision is in the House-passed measure, but wasomitted from the bill that the Senate passed on Christmas Eve.
They also want the final measure to include a House-passed proposal for a nationwide insurance exchange,to be regulated by the federal government, where consumers could shopfor private coverage. The Senate bill calls for a state-based system ofexchanges.
Additionally, House Democrats want to require insurers to spend aminimum amount of premium income on benefits, thereby limiting what isavailable for salaries, bonuses, advertising and other items. The Housebill sets the floor at 85 percent; the Senate-passed measure lowers itto 80 percent for policies sold to small groups and individuals.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private.