IIABA Displeased With Senate Reform Bill

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) is registering its disappointment with the Senate’s latest iteration of health care reform.

The bill, recently unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), includes a government-run health insurance plan (“public option”) intended to compete with private insurers. The association says the public option would not compete on a level playing field with private insurers and points to the current government-run health insurance plans as ample evidence of this. More, Robert Rusbuldt, IIABA president & CEO, contended that individual states are unlikely to utilize the “opt-out” clause contained within the bill.
 
“We do not believe any state legislature or governor will ‘opt’ to take away an entitlement bestowed upon their citizens by the federal government and federal taxpayers,” Rusbuldt said in a statement. “Especially since the citizens of that state cannot ‘opt out’ of paying for the public option. Therefore, the ‘opt-out’ is not a viable compromise, and it is synonymous with the ‘robust’ public option.”

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Policy adminstration Core systems
MORE FROM DIGITAL INSURANCE