In one of its “Fact Check” segments earlier this week (linked here), ABC News examined whether or not there was any truth to the notion that health care reform legislation could ultimately put health insurance companies out of business and whether consumers would be forced to change health plans. The report deemed these claims false, based on the fact that there is simply no language in the proposed plans that explicitly calls for the demise of private insurers or that mandates consumers to switch plans. In this very limited sense, the ABC piece is correct, but that conclusion is highly misleading.
ABC’s report ignores the fact that the proposed legislation creates a number of strong incentives for employers to drop employee health care coverage to gain certain economic advantages and to simplify their own operations. Given that 70 percent of insured Americans maintain coverage through their employers, incenting those employers to change plans or curtail health insurance altogether means that, in fact, people will not be able to keep their current coverage. So while current proposals don’t necessarily contain a clear-cut directive to abolish private insurers or force individuals to change coverage, it certainly is a very likely secondary effect.
So, would current legislation itself force those currently covered to change plans and/or doctors? Perhaps not, but the incentive structures it creates will effectively compel some employers to change, which will require their employees to either change their plans or their employment.
I’d suggest that ABC News failed as a “fact checker” in this instance.
(By the way, the segment also failed to address the advantage that a public health plan would have in mandating reimbursement rates, which is something I addressed in an earlier blog.)
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