Evil but brilliant

I have to hand it to the PR departments of the health insurance industry. They can always come up with some negative spin for positive healthcare news.

Last week was the 6 month anniversary of the signing of the new health care law. With the anniversary came new consumer protections that the public loves. Here are a couple:

--children under the age of 19 with pre-existing conditions can no longer be excluded from a health insurance policy.

--young adults up to age 26 can stay on their parents’ health plans.

--health insurance companies can no longer take insurance away from a person who is receiving medical treatment (rescission) if the person forgot to mention something minor in their medical history or made a mistake filling out their application.

--cost-sharing for policyholders is eliminated for preventative health services.

Yesterday I attended a healthcare reform “lunch and learn” sponsored by the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce. One of the panelists was from Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC. He was a congenial guy, just moving to the Columbia area to take a vice president position with the company

As soon as the gentlemen stood up to make his presentation, it was clear that in spite of his affable private nature, he was a company man through and through.

The positive news from the week before now became threatening and ominous. The consumer benefits were now evil government REGULATIONS.

“We now have regulations about children pre-existing conditions.”

“We now have regulations about young adults.”

“We now have regulations about misinformation on policies.”

“We now have regulations about preventive healthcare.”

REGULATIONS REGULATIONS REGULATIONS

Is your blood boiling yet? How dare the government impose more regulations? We need less regulation not more, right?  KILL HEALTH CARE REFORM.

Brilliant PR. Evil but brilliant. And you pay for it with your premiums.