Behind Closed Doors: Insurance Companies and Clinton’s Health Care Plan

President Clinton’s health care reform proposal suffered a swift defeat due to the combined efforts of a number of groups: American voters, Republican politicians, liberal Democrats, and the insurance industry. Currently, the latter of those constituencies has vocalized tacit approval of reform efforts in the future. What has changed so dramatically from one decade to the next as President Obama seeks to succeed where his Democratic predecessor failed? Apparently very little.

Much of the heat from the insurance industry in the 1990s stemmed as much from how the proposal was put together as what the proposal attempted to do. The Clinton Administration’s plan would have created a “managed competition” where Americans would purchase from a government-regulated pool. Carriers offering coverage in this pool would be expected to negotiate substantially lower prices from health care providers. The government would also design the coverage packages to be offered in the pools. Essentially, the plan stripped insurance companies of their autonomy and authority.

The character of the plan is resultant of the manner in which it was assembled. A carefully chosen task force aided First Lady Hillary Clinton in development of the plan, but special interest groups with a stake in the outcome, most notably physicians and insurance providers, were left on the outside. Stung by the Clinton’s lack of regard for their opinion, the insurance industry waged a campaign against the plan. The industry viewed the Clintons as stripping insurance companies of their power without ever mentioning it. In the next reform campaign, it is imperative that nothing of this nature happens. Although President Obama may stand in opposition to many interest groups in regards to health care reform, a positive and much needed change in delivery can only be realized through collaboration and transparency. Hopefully, Obama is more prepared to negotiate than President Clinton was.

Related posts:

1. “Lessons Learned: The Clinton Debacle & the Future of Health Care” with Jacob Hacker
2. Health Care Professionals Favor Single-Payer Insurance By Barry Slaff of the Penn Democrats
3. WHAT ASPECT OF HEALTH CARE DELIVERY IS MOST IN NEED OF REFORM? By Arnold Rosoff, Professor of Health Care Management and Legal Studies

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