Source: The Negotiation Academy
Paul Krugman’s advice to Congress when it comes to health care reform:
1) Don’t trust the insurance industry.
2) Don’t trust the insurance industry.
In a NY Times editorial, Krugman recalls how conservative Bill Kristol, in 1993, urged Republicans to oppose any significant health care reform. He did, however, advocate simplifying insurance forms. Fifteen years later the insurance industry is finally proposing “administrative simplification.” What took them so long? And why is a public health insurance option important?
Americans seeking health coverage had nowhere else to go. And the purpose of the public option is to make sure that the industry doesn’t waste another 15 years — by giving Americans an alternative if private insurers fall down on the job.
Be warned, however. The insurance industry will do everything it can to avoid being held accountable. …
Without an effective public option, the Obama health care reform will be simply a national version of the health care reform in Massachusetts: a system that is a lot better than nothing but has done little to address the fundamental problem of a fragmented system, and as a result has done little to control rising health care costs.
Right now the health insurers are promising to deliver major cost savings. But history shows that such promises can’t be trusted. As President Obama said in his letter, we need a serious, real public option to keep the insurance companies honest.
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