Senator to Health Insurers: Shape Up
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WASHINGTON — The health-insurance industry must make coverage more affordable and accessible or face an angry Congress that will answer a public clamor about health care costs by eliminating the business in favor of national health insurance, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) warned Thursday.
“Congress will be serious about health insurance reform only once--there will be no second chance for the industry,” he told a conference on medical spending.
If insurers “permit business as usual,” he predicted, America could adopt federal, universal coverage by decade’s end, wiping out all but a handful of private insurers.
Rockefeller, a congressional leader on health issues, and others in Congress have been preparing legislation to force reforms. His blunt remarks signaled the opening of a campaign that could expand tough federal standards to an industry traditionally regulated by states.
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