The fear that the Democratic party may find itself in the uncomfortable position of being the most corporatist of the two majors could be just a passing dark cloud.
Harry Reid -- Harry Reid! -- is going after the insurance companies. He's waving McCarran-Ferguson at them in a threatening manner!
In a rare appearance as a witness at a Senate hearing, the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, on Wednesday told the Judiciary Committee that it should repeal a 1945 law that granted the insurance industry limited exemption to national antitrust laws by allowing states to regulate insurers. The law, the McCarran-Ferguson Act, is often cited by Mr. Reid and other critics of the health insurance industry as a reason why coverage can be so expensive for many people. They say the law allows insurers to monopolize markets and fix prices in ways that are usually illegal.
Wait. There's gotta be a hitch. Maybe it's that Senator Schumer and other Dems want to attach the repeal to the health reform package. That could be a spoiler ... or at least overload. Maybe, after a little backroom whispering, Republicans could actually get on board with a strike back at unleashed corporations. Who knows? The winds are blowing from odd directions these days.
For starters, Price Waterhouse had to admit that the numbers it gave AHIP were too narrowly based to mean all that much. And Karen Ignagni found herself in defensive mode this morning during a panel discussion of health care reform.
Is all this a new and very welcome sign of climate change?
The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, has introduced a bill — the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act — that would repeal the insurance industry’s limited exemption.
Enjoy the moment...
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Looks like Susan Collins may follow Olympia Snowe's lead.
... Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told The Associated Press that the bill approved Tuesday by the Finance Committee needs substantial improvements to make coverage more affordable, contain costs, and protect Medicare. Nevertheless, she joined her Maine GOP colleague Sen. Olympia Snowe in endorsing the goal of far-reaching changes.
