The LookoutNew health care study roils debate over repeal
Just as Congress starts debating a Republican effort to repeal last year's health care overhaul, the Obama administration has released a new study that it says underlines why the law is needed. But critics charge that it overstates the case.
A study by the Health and Human Services Department found that half of Americans younger than 65 -- 129 million people -- have a pre-existing medical condition such as asthma, high blood pressure or obesity that could lead insurers to deny them coverage or charge them more. Nearly a fifth of non-elderly Americans, 50 million people, have conditions that make them eligible for states' high-risk pools -- special coverage for those denied insurance because of their medical history.
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Starting in 2014, the health care overhaul will ban insurers from rejecting people with pre-existing conditions, charging them extra or limiting their benefits. The House on Tuesday is beginning to debate a Republican measure that would repeal the law -- the highest-profile legislative achievement of President Obama's first two years in office.
"Americans living with pre-existing conditions are being freed from discrimination in order to get the health coverage they need," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement Tuesday.
Republicans, noting the timing of the report, dismiss it as "politics and public relations."
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And health insurers say it gives a misleading picture. Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, noted to the Washington Post that it includes Americans who already have insurance. These people, he said, aren't at risk unless they need to change their coverage and buy it themselves. So the actual number of Americans affected by the problem is far lower.
The law's defenders, however, counter that it's appropriate to include people who currently have insurance, because one of the law's attributes is that it makes it easier for those with pre-existing conditions to leave their job and strike out on their own without fear of being denied coverage.
"We see it as an entrepreneurial bill," House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi Nancy Pelosi told the New York Times last week, "a bill that says to someone, if you want to be creative and be a musician or whatever, you can leave your work, focus on your talent, your skill, your passion, your aspirations because you will have health care."
The chances that congressional Republicans will succeed in their repeal effort are remote. Even if the repeal measure passes both chambers of Congress -- which is highly unlikely, since Democrats and their allies maintain a 53-47 majority in the Senate -- President Obama is expected to veto it.
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A court effort to have the health care overhaul struck down appears to have better prospects. One federal judge has already ruled that the law is unconstitutional, and the case is expected to wind up before the Supreme Court.
(Photo of President Obama: AP/Seth Wenig)
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