The Wonk Room

When Insurance Companies Echo Progressives

You know the time has come for health insurance reform when the President of American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the lobbying arm of the insurance companies, is taking her talking points from progressive proponents of comprehensive reform.

Here is AHIP President Karen Ignagni on PBS’s NewHour with Jim Lehrer, linking the economic crisis to the health care crisis:

There’s an economic reason to move forward on health care reform, which is why I think it makes sense right now to talk about it. It’s the most expensive thing to do nothing at all, because people don’t have prevention, they don’t have early intervention, and they’re entering the system through the doors of the emergency room.

As former Clinton adviser Chris Jennings points out, things have changed since the 1990s. This time around, “what’s really exciting about the stakeholders is no longer are they saying that the second-best choice is to do nothing.”