A lobbyist told The Hill in an interview Tuesday that unless the insurance industry receives a federal bailout, companies intend to raise premiums on Americans due to the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on private employer-based plans—a threat that progressives said only strengthens the case for a single-payer, Medicare for All system.
“Nationalize them,” Boston-based activist Jonathan Cohn said of insurance companies.
American Benefits Council senior vice president for health policy Ilyse Schuman said that employer-based healthcare plans were unlikely to handle the stress of an increase in benefit claims from the disease without hiking prices for consumers.
“They’ll be left with no option but to pass costs along to employees in the form of higher premiums next year,” said Schuman. “That’s really why we’re asking Congress to step in and protect employer-sponsored coverage.”
According to The Hill, insurers are already asking for federal relief from the burden of paying out claims:
America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the leading trade group for insurance companies, and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association urged congressional leaders in a letter last week to provide temporary “federal risk mitigation programs to support the financial stability of plans that incur extraordinary, unplanned costs in 2020 and 2021 […]
We really do need Medicare For All, or a similar system which is even better. I wanted Sanders and Warren to win together to get that done. I truly believe they were the best choices for President and Vice President. I would like to know how Biden became the choice of the DNC, but I do know it was the wrong choice. Biden was always against everything I wanted of the Vice President and I do not want him for President. I think all of we real Progressives should still vote for Sanders. Biden just wants things to remain the same, not change anything for the better. He was always a centrist and is still one now when we really need Progressive change to reverse Trump’s damage which he has done to our country.