On the heels of President Obama's tour through the West comes word this morning his administration may be backing off the 'public option' part of the health care reform bill, which would be a big win for the insurance companies. Insurance cooperatives or exchanges would replace it, reports The Los Angeles Times. These would create virtual marketplaces where private insurers would compete for consumers' business. And co-ops would allow consumers to band together to negotiate coverage.
Interesting. The Montana town hall meeting on focused on curbing insurance practices such as cutting people off their insurance coverage when they get sick, denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and imposing caps on total benefits, writes Jonathan Weber of New West. Obama told the largely supportive crowd near Bozeman that under the reform proposals being discussed, those practices would be prohibited. Let's hope that as this bill continues to go forward, even those protections aren't slashed in efforts to get Republican support.
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