How Enzi ' bought ' the silence of Blue Cross Blue Shield- at our peril

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Senator Enzi put in a provision to mum the large insurance group Blue Cross Blue Shield, helping to get his bill through the Senate HELP committee by in essence buying their silence. But it back fired, this provision angered health care advocates. This bill may be brought back later this year with any number of new provisions. Watch out.(S1955 The Lose Your Health Care Bill was killed last week with 43 votes against cloture, 42 dems and 1 repub-Chafee. Landreiu voted with the repugs.)


Lobby mum on insurance bill


>>In past years, the patient and consumer groups had formed an odd-bedfellows alliance with Blue Cross Blue Shield, which took the lead in killing the bill.

“They played an active leadership role in opposing association health plans,” said Ron Pollack, head of Families USA, a health care advocacy group that in the past teamed up with Blue Cross. “They were often listed as the No. 1 or No. 2 opponent. This year, they’ve shrunk into the woodwork.”

Pollack and other critics say Blue Cross switched from outspoken opponent to quiet spectator because of key changes made by Enzi.

“They were able to get this special deal,” Pollack said.

Blue Cross’s Lehnhard acknowledged that the company has dropped back from the fight because of provisions Enzi added to the bill. But she denied the insurance giant got special treatment. Instead, she said, they won equal treatment — a switch from an earlier version of the bill that she said would have put Blue Cross at a competitive disadvantage.

In the original version of Enzi’s proposal — taken from a measure championed by Talent when he was in the House — trade associations could offer insurance plans that would be exempt from the state mandates.

Blue Cross and other big insurers worried that would allow new competitors to offer cheaper, bare-bones plans, when they would still be required to offer more expensive bells-and-whistles packages.

*****So in revising the bill, Enzi included, among other changes, a provision to exempt all insurers from state mandates, muting a key complaint from Blue Cross.


Craig Orfield, a spokesman for the health committee Enzi chairs, said his boss worked out a careful compromise that took into account a broad array of concerns about the original bill, including those voiced by Blue Cross.<

>>Staying “mum” may have proved to be more useful for Enzi than if Blue Cross had come out strongly in favor, critics said.

“You can image that Enzi doesn’t want to have the HMOs and big insurance companies out in front on this bill because that will . . . portray the bill for what it really is, an insurance company giveaway,” Flanagan said.

But Blue Cross officials said they decided not to lobby in favor of the bill because there was still deep concern about what might happen if the Senate took Enzi’s bill into negotiations with the original House version that would impose tougher rules on big insurers.

In any case, by broadening the exemption, Enzi may have won Blue Cross’s silence, but he further infuriated other interests, such as the American Nurses Association, the American Chiropractic Association and diabetes, cancer, and other groups.

On Thursday, those forces prevailed when Democrats stopped a GOP move to cut off debate and move to a final vote.

Orfield, the health committee spokesman, said Enzi isn’t done. “He’s going to step back and negotiate with some more Democrats and see what can be done,” he said<<


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[sidwill]

1. We better pick up some seats

in Nov.