NAHU Statement of Sen. Baucus Health Care Reform Proposal

Sam Smith, CFP
CAHU VP Public Affairs

NAHU Statement on Senator Baucus’ Blueprint for Health Care Reform

(Arlington, VA) – Janet Trautwein, CEO of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), issued the following statement in response to the health care reform proposal released by Senator Max Baucus:

“The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) congratulates Senator Baucus for his leadership in putting forth these thoughtful initiatives aimed at strengthening our health care system. NAHU represents agents, brokers and benefit specialists who work every day with employers and consumers in designing, providing and servicing quality private insurance coverage that best serves their needs, all of whom play an integral role in helping to make health care happen. We welcome the opportunity to share our unique understanding of consumer health care needs and the economic realities of health insurance markets in helping to forge consensus on health system reform proposals.

“Although no reform proposal is perfect, NAHU is pleased that Senator Baucus has sought to build on areas in which there is considerable bipartisan agreement including the need to constrain the growth of health care costs and improve quality and value through prevention and wellness, greater price and quality transparency, widespread and consistent health IT standards, comparative effectiveness research, the elimination of inefficiencies and insurance payment and medical liability reforms.

“NAHU applauds Senator Baucus’ call for maintaining and strengthening the employer-based system, through which a majority of Americans receive quality and affordable health insurance coverage. We hope that his new pooling arrangements seek to maintain as level a playing field as possible for all players and ensure that competitive prices both inside such pools and in conventional markets can be maintained.

“NAHU shares Senator Baucus’ commitment toward ensuring that all Americans have access to a health care system that delivers both world-class medical care and financial security. We believe the time is right for a solution that controls medical spending and guarantees access to affordable coverage for all Americans. We believe this can be accomplished without limiting people’s ability to choose the health plan that best fits their needs and ensures them continued access to professional health insurance agents and brokers. We look forward to working with Senator Baucus, other Members of Congress and the new Obama Administration in crafting public policies that work for consumers, employers, providers and health plans alike.”

The National Association of Health Underwriters represents more than 20,000 professional health insurance agents and brokers who provide insurance for millions of Americans.

Governor Declares Prop 11 Victory-CAHU Grass Roots Involvement Acknowledged

Sam Smith
CAHU VP Public Relations

At 10am on Wednesday, November 5th, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger gathered the key leaders of the Yes On Prop 11 Campaign on the steps of the Los Angeles City Hall and declared victory in his fight to bring redistricting reform to the California legislature. Flanked by Campaign Co-Chairs Jeannine English, California State President, AARP; Janis R. Hirohama, President, League of Women Voters of California; Gary Toebben, President/CEO, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce; Allan Zaremberg, President/CEO, California Chamber of Commerce; Kathay Feng, Executive Director, California Common Cause; Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and LA City Controller, Laura Chick, Governor Schwarzenegger said "We never give up and the 6th times a charm!" Standing with the Governor was CAHU Vice President of Public Affairs, Sam Smith, and a number of other representatives of grassroots organizations that helped pull together a strong campaign at the community level.

At Wednesday's news conference, the California Association of Health Underwriters was singled out as one of the most effective partners in the YES on Prop 11 Campaign and was thanked by all the campaign co-chairs for their outstanding effort. LA Chamber of Commerce President, Gary Toebben, was particularly appreciative of CAHU's efforts and thanked them for their volunteer efforts and their financial participation in the YES on Prop 11 Campaign.

While declaring victory, the Governor acknowledged that at this time, the margin of victory is still very slim, but the trend is in favor of the YES forces. As of 3:49pm on Wednesday, the California Secretary of State website showed that the vote was:

YES: 4,646,128 (50.6%)
NO: 4,549,434 (49.4%)
Margin of 96,694 votes
Precincts reporting: 25,318 of 25,423 (99.5%)

The margin in favor of Prop 11 is expected to continue to grow as absentee ballots are counted.

On Tuesday, November 11th, at the invitation of CAHU, campaign sponsoring organizations are scheduled to meet to discuss the campaign experience and to explore areas of common ground for future efforts.

Congratulations, CAHU, for a job well done!