What Happens if Health Care Reform Fails?

With the results of the election in Massachusetts earlier this week, there is a lot of talk that the loss of one Senate seat to Republicans will stall the President’s health care reform agenda and basically stop reform in its tracks. While that might seem a bit of an overreaction, it is something to consider, and in looking at one aspect of this, the health insurance companies, the New York Times indeed did think about it. In an article entitled “If Bills Fail, a Quandary for Insurers”, they look at the possible ramifications for health insurance companies should health care reform fail.

In the short term, many health insurance companies might welcome the failure of legislation that would, essentially, alter the fundamental ways their businesses work. However, in the long term, the problems for the health insurance companies — such as the rising cost of health care — would be much harder to tackle without assistance from the government. They could also face a reality wherein their product is put more and more out of reach by consumers due to the rising costs of health care.

Even the health insurance companies themselves realize change needs to happen. It’s guessed that the companies themselves might undertake many of the reforms they promised under the new bills on their own, such as removing pre-existing conditions. Whether they undergo these changes or not, there are other problems, most notably the loss of millions of potential new customers that would be required to get health insurance under the proposed governmental mandate.

Is health care reform stalled? Will it survive this new political wrinkle? It’s way too soon to tell, but we will keep an eye on it and bring the information to you as we get it.