New Fee on Health Insurance Companies Is Proposed to Help Expand Coverage

[Chris]

Mr. Baucus’s plan, expected to cost $850 billion to $900 billion over 10 years, would tax insurance companies on their most expensive health care policies. The hope is that employers would buy cheaper, less generous coverage for employees, thereby reducing the overuse of medical services.

The separate new fee on insurance companies would help raise money to pay for the plan. The fee would raise $6 billion a year starting in 2010, and it would be allocated among insurance companies according to their market shares.

The fees were first proposed by Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York, John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Until now, Mr. Baucus had not shown interest in the idea.

Mr. Schumer said, “The health insurance industry should pay its fair share of the cost because it stands to gain over 40 million new consumers under health care reform legislation.”

Mr. Rockefeller said the fees were justified because insurance companies were “rapaciously, greedily and unstoppably making money by underpaying the patient, by underpaying the provider and by overpaying themselves.”

New York Times

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

The problem is the uninsured or the under-insured so they intend to penalize those with well-rounded coverage.

Got it.

[Flame]

The problem is the uninsured or the under-insured so they intend to penalize those with well-rounded coverage.

Got it.

Well, of course...it's the socialized way....take away from those that are happy with what they have, leaving them with a pittance and leaving them unhappy,  give a pittance to those who don't have, making them "happy" (temporarily, until they realize they didn't get anything at all, really), and keep the rest for yourself (gov't).  Then everyone (except the big honchos in the politburo) are equally miserable!   

[DumbAss Tanker]

Some form of levy on the insurers as a whole is probably the only way there is to cover a pool for the few million people who are currently uninsurable, not covered by Medicare/Medicaid but want health insurance (Which is the only thing I personally would like to see addressed in all the grandiose 'Reform' BS).  Basically something like the way auto insurers have to handle high-risk drivers now in most states.  However this seems like a total abortion as an approach to dealing with that one relatively-small real problem with the current system.