Ever heard of AHIP? Probably not, as it doesn't garner a lot of recognition. The acronym stands for America's Health Insurance Plans, the lobbying arm of the health insurance companies. They sound evil. No wonder that Obama and Pelosi have been relentlessly hammering the insurance industry; just this week the Speaker labeled them villains. Anonymice all across the blosphere have taken up that refrain. Just one tiny problem with it: it's not true.
In December 2008, AHIP unveiled its big proposal: Insurance companies would guarantee coverage for all, dropping exclusions for pre-existing medical conditions, and they would charge the same premiums to everyone in a geographic region, subject only to their age and the benefit structure of their policy.
The trade AHIP sought was a mandate that everyone be covered, giving the industry the opportunity to sell policies to 40 million to 50 million presently uninsured people.
On top of all this, Ignagni was a major organizer of the "stakeholder" group - including hospitals, doctors, device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies - that met with White House officials and then with Obama, pledging savings of $2 trillion over 10 years.
Yet the villification continues, unabated. Government couldn't run "Cash for Clunkers". They'll do better with your health care, though.
