Lois Quam on Insurance Companies and Health Care Reform

Why is a public option essential for health care reform?

A public option can provide good insurance coverage for all Americans everywhere, all the time. No one will have to rely on the fact that there might be a good insurance company where they live, even if there's not an insurance company where they live, or not a good insurance company where they live, every American will have that coverage. The other thing I really like about a public option and think is important, is it offers people choice. There are many people who, in Medicare, really like traditional Medicare and stick with it. And I think that for that same reason we should have a public option that allows people that choice. More choice is just good and interesting. In addition, the public option really has two big advantages in the marketplace as a whole. First, it establishes a benchmark to help keep administrative costs and premiums down. It's a great cost control mechanism. Economists around the country have found that, and I've found that in my own experience working in health insurance, that having a public option helps everybody keep their costs down. And lastly, one of the things a public option can do is it can mean that we can decide something is important, and provide it through the public option, even if companies aren't interested in doing it. And we've don't that in the past and its been really important. Thirty years ago, we as a country decided that it was really important to give coverage for people who had serious kidney problems, and we did that through the Medicare program, and we didn't have to rely on a private company thinking that was a good market to be in. So I think a public option is really important and a good thing for health care reform.

Why should private insurers welcome a public option?

I think public option works well for insurers for several reasons. The first is the same reason it works well for all of us. Something that is better for the American health care system, that increases security for Americans, while providing ways to control costs and bring innovation, is also good for companies working in health care. And I understand that change can be unsettling up front, but something that's good for all of us is also good for the best companies that work in health care. Secondly, the best companies working in health care--really effective companies--I think will do a good job at stepping back and looking at the public option and saying, how can we provide products and services to the public option to make it better. The best companies in health care have done that working with state health care programs for low-income families, and the Medicare program nationally, and I think that will happen here, too. So, I understand change is hard, but I think when you look at it, and you step back and you look at it objectively, and based on all my experience working in the health insurance industry, that's what I've found, and I think that's what will be delivered here.

How could the insurance industry have approached this debate in a more constructive way?

In light of the insurance industry's historical opposition to changes in health care, that the industry would have said, we understand we oppose Medicare, we understand that when Hillary Clinton opposed reforms we put the Harry and Louise ads on and we made sure that didn't happen. And we understand that that's been our history, and we're Americans, too, you know, the insurance industry could have said, we're Americans, too, and we want the right thing to happen, and this time it's going to be different. And we're going to support health care reform, and we're going to even support it when the going gets rough and stay constructive and try to find the right solutions. And I wish the insurance industry had done that, and I wish they'd stuck with it. And I was really disappointed when the industry put out the Price Waterhouse report that was not a solid report. It was not a good contribution. And it also wasn't a constructive time or position to take in the debate. If you're a part of making something good happen, you have to stick with it through thick and thin to make sure it happens, and the industry hasn't done this in this debate. And I think that's really going to pay a high cost for the industry and ultimately open up opportunities for really good companies to work in this space because it has created such frustration with the industry that I think it's going to cause more pressure on the industry, and more regulation on the industry, and in turn that will bring some new companies, and products, and services into the space.