Secretary Katherine Sebelius on the evils of private sector rationing in 2009:
"It's private insurers who often are telling their clients that, "No, you can't get this recommended treatment that the doctor has made"; "No, you can't get this drug"; "No, you're not going to be able to stay in the hospital an extra day"; "No, you're not going to get this because we're concerned about costs."
HHS solution to the fact that Congress has underbudgeted money for temporary insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions in state run high risk pools:
“There’s a certain amount of money authorized in the statute, and we will do our best to make sure that that amount of money insures as many people as possible and does as much good as possible,” said Jay Angoff, director of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “I think it’s premature to say [what happens] when it’s gone.”
Read more here
Sounds like rationing to me, at least according to the definition used by Sec. Sebelius: "We will not allow these companies to insure only the healthy and leave the sick to suffer."
instead, the government will make that happen.
"It's private insurers who often are telling their clients that, "No, you can't get this recommended treatment that the doctor has made"; "No, you can't get this drug"; "No, you're not going to be able to stay in the hospital an extra day"; "No, you're not going to get this because we're concerned about costs."
HHS solution to the fact that Congress has underbudgeted money for temporary insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions in state run high risk pools:
Health law risks turning away sick
- 07/01/10 07:13 PM ET
The Obama administration has not ruled out turning sick people away from an insurance program created by the new healthcare law to provide coverage for the uninsured.
Administration officials insist they can make changes to the program to ensure it lasts until 2014, and that it may not have to turn away sick people. Officials said the administration could also consider reducing benefits under the program, or redistributing funds between state pools. But they acknowledged turning some people away was also a possibility.“There’s a certain amount of money authorized in the statute, and we will do our best to make sure that that amount of money insures as many people as possible and does as much good as possible,” said Jay Angoff, director of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “I think it’s premature to say [what happens] when it’s gone.”
Read more here
Sounds like rationing to me, at least according to the definition used by Sec. Sebelius: "We will not allow these companies to insure only the healthy and leave the sick to suffer."
instead, the government will make that happen.
