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Thornberry backs modest health insurance changes
Thornberry: I think there was a lot of concern about where the health care debate is going, what effect it's going to have on individuals, but there's also a lot of frustration about the way Washington is working right now, about the debt that we're piling up passing on to our kids. People were very passionate and articulate, really, about talking about those things.
Haslett: Thornberry opposes the idea of a government run health insurance program that would compete with the private sector. He does, however, feel that the existing system could use some attention.
Thornberry: I believe that we do need to make improvements in health care. I think we ought to narrow the focus a little bit and just try to work on one or two areas rather than reform the whole system in a single bite, and I think we can and should try to make things work better.
Haslett: One change to the existing system that Thornberry advocates is allowing health insurance policies to be sold across state lines.
Thornberry: Right now, you cannot sell a Texas health insurance policy to someone in Oklahoma, so each state has its own system of regulation. Some states have very few health insurance policies that are available to people. And whether its regional sorts of exchanges or even nationwide policies, a lot of folks think that if you could break down some of those state line barriers, you would increase the competition, increase the choice and lower the price of health insurance for everybody.
Haslett: With interstate health insurance sales, the policies would be regulated not in the state of the consumer, but in the state where the insurance company is officed. States could attract business by creating business-friendly climates for insurance companies, perhaps similar to the way that Delaware and South Dakota have become popular homes for credit-card companies. Some say consumers would benefit from the increased numbers of insurance providers. Others say the wider pool of customers would give insurance companies even less incentive to work with people with pre-existing conditions. Regarding the matter of pre-existing conditions, Thornberry did suggest that the federal government might have a role in seeing to it that people classified as such by health insurance companies would still have access to medical care.
Thornberry: I believe 30 states have a high-risk pool now, which is largely for people with pre-existing conditions. There may be a role for the federal government as a re-insurer or as a backstop to those state high-risk pools, as just one example to look at to try to deal with this pre-existing condition issue.
Haslett: Thornberry said that while he did feel government action could help improve the health care system in the United States, he emphasized his opposition to the overhaul proposed by President Obama. This is Mark Haslett, H-P-P-R News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
(2009-09-24)
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AMARILLO, TEXAS
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Haslett: The summer of 2009 will be remembered for a number of angry town hall meetings across the country, as some members of Congress encountered impassioned and even disruptive protesters at the usually low-key events. While a broad range of issues inspired the contentious town halls, the current proposals for health care overhaul dominated the debates. Mac Thornberry represents Amarillo and most of the Texas Panhandle in the House of Representatives. Thornberry initially chose not to hold a public forum in his district, but later decided to go ahead with a town hall. Thornberry actually held two such meetings last Saturday- one in the morning in Amarillo and another in Wichita Falls that afternoon. Both were essentially mild and civil affairs, even though, as Thornberry says, emotions did run high.
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Thornberry: I think there was a lot of concern about where the health care debate is going, what effect it's going to have on individuals, but there's also a lot of frustration about the way Washington is working right now, about the debt that we're piling up passing on to our kids. People were very passionate and articulate, really, about talking about those things.
Haslett: Thornberry opposes the idea of a government run health insurance program that would compete with the private sector. He does, however, feel that the existing system could use some attention.
Thornberry: I believe that we do need to make improvements in health care. I think we ought to narrow the focus a little bit and just try to work on one or two areas rather than reform the whole system in a single bite, and I think we can and should try to make things work better.
Haslett: One change to the existing system that Thornberry advocates is allowing health insurance policies to be sold across state lines.
Thornberry: Right now, you cannot sell a Texas health insurance policy to someone in Oklahoma, so each state has its own system of regulation. Some states have very few health insurance policies that are available to people. And whether its regional sorts of exchanges or even nationwide policies, a lot of folks think that if you could break down some of those state line barriers, you would increase the competition, increase the choice and lower the price of health insurance for everybody.
Haslett: With interstate health insurance sales, the policies would be regulated not in the state of the consumer, but in the state where the insurance company is officed. States could attract business by creating business-friendly climates for insurance companies, perhaps similar to the way that Delaware and South Dakota have become popular homes for credit-card companies. Some say consumers would benefit from the increased numbers of insurance providers. Others say the wider pool of customers would give insurance companies even less incentive to work with people with pre-existing conditions. Regarding the matter of pre-existing conditions, Thornberry did suggest that the federal government might have a role in seeing to it that people classified as such by health insurance companies would still have access to medical care.
Thornberry: I believe 30 states have a high-risk pool now, which is largely for people with pre-existing conditions. There may be a role for the federal government as a re-insurer or as a backstop to those state high-risk pools, as just one example to look at to try to deal with this pre-existing condition issue.
Haslett: Thornberry said that while he did feel government action could help improve the health care system in the United States, he emphasized his opposition to the overhaul proposed by President Obama. This is Mark Haslett, H-P-P-R News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
