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Louisiana Health Insurance executive warns Senate plan will not cut costs

The Senate Finance Committee will revolutionize health care do not lower Costs and higher tax yield that insurance companies pass on to policyholders, a top executive of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana on Tuesday, as the legislation moves forward in Congress. "The piece is not going to go away affordability" when the Senate Bill becomes law, said Brian Keller, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing for the state's leading insurer, at a lunch meeting in New Orleans economists and business people.

The evaluation generally reflects the results of a study by Pricewaterhouse Coopers by the insurance industry and published Monday on the eve of the Senate finance panel vote. Keller acknowledged that the analysis highlighted some of the provisions of the Act, a point the White House and Democratic congressional leaders left out in their condemnation of the report.

Keller said the national Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is planning its own study of Sen. Max Baucus' Bill Release today.

Although he offered a relatively comprehensive indictment of the legislation, Keller said he expects a compromise with President Barack Obama to reach the desk, and he repeated that Blue Cross ready come to the table to expand coverage and reduce costs. "Meaningful reform"

Louisiana Blue Cross and Blue Shield CEO Mike Reitz propagated for months its support for "meaningful reform" and the company's Web site calls, among other strategies, taking for providers for performance rather than per service; Pre-existing conditions, introduction of an individual mandate for coverage; medical restriction in connection with litigation, and expansion of Medicaid and private insurance companies through subsidies.

Reitz against a government insurance. An open switch is a key component of the House Democrats' main Account, but the version Baucus sets instead of insurance co-operatives that would be initially capitalized by the taxpayers.

Keller said, he did not believe a public plan in the final version will be included as soon as the Senate and House reconcile their competing bills. But Keller said he could see, the Obama Administration tries again to the public option, especially if the current law leads to higher premiums.

"I think that is the goal, "he said. said:" I can see, they come back in two years, said: "He who polluted insurance, they charge us more. Now we deal with the public plan. "... I will not say they are sneaky. But they are of strategic importance."

Penalty referred to as low

The Baucus bill falls short, Keller said in the enforcement of an insurance mandate to assess a penalty of $ 950 for a family that Denied coverage and $ 750 for an individual, if the full fines gradually until 2017.

The idea behind it is a mandate to spread risk over a larger pool, while reducing the pass-along costs of the failed emergency room bills of uninsured. But Keller did not say the penalties high enough to make people To force in the market.

Keller was not too receptive to cooperatives and easier access to insurance pools, including the prospect of enabling both approaches to cross the state border. Blue Cross is already structured as a Co-op, he said.

He said the expansion of markets beyond national borders could initially offer better access to individual coverage areas for high-risk individuals who can not afford it now. But the cycle of competition, he said, would continue to weed out patients with the highest risk so that a pool of uninsured who are too expensive to cover for the company.

"For (To work insurance) organizations, they must be very great, "he said.

Although he was not to explicitly refute his firm endorsement of the expanding Medicaid has, he noted comments expressed by several governors, the concerns that the changes would wreck the state budget.

Separately said Keller Blue Cross and Blue Shield's enrollment figures reflect a slowing Louisiana economy, particularly in the oil sector on the Louisiana coastline.

Keller said, Blue Cross loses approximately 1,000 enrollees each month from his group's plans. The cuts, he said, are concentrated around Lafayette, Morgan City, Houma, all sections, lean heavily on direct and indirect jobs, oil and gas.

Oil companies account for about 25 percent of enrollment in group plans by the state, said Keller, but in recent months accounted for about half of the losses in enrollees.

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