Does This Make Sense to Anyone?

Author : Toni Bigby

Consumer Advocacy at CareSource Over 11 years of experience working with Ohio’s Medicaid program promoting the importance and availability of health care coverage for Ohio’s underserved populations; Responsible for working with statewide consumer advocacy groups to advance key initiatives to provide value-added benefits to CareSource members; Charged with engaging members to bring their voice to the forefront to inform internal business operations

Dec 23rd, 2009 | by Toni Bigby

We know. We don’t want to “make the perfect enemy of the bad” and all.


But really, this new thing about the insurance company tax exemption?  We need to take another look.  As of now, non-profit insurance companies that operate in the private marketplace (primarily the Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies) and spend at least 92% of premiums directly on medical costs would be exempted from the new tax on insurers in the Senate bill. (Wall Street Journal’s explanation of this “bright spot” ).

This needs to be extended to companies serving the public through Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP.  Otherwise, millions of state tax dollars currently being used to provide health care to children, seniors and others will instead be sent straight back to Washington, leaving the states to find some way to make up the difference.

We don’t think anyone meant the new tax on insurers to actually be a tax on states, but that’s how it works out in the current iteration of the bill. It doesn’t make sense to us.

By the way, Associated Press offers a pretty comprehensive list of all the compromises in the Senate bill as it stands, here.