Insurance news today

Seattle Times: Costs for employer-provided health plans are expected to rise more than 10 percent within the next 12 months


NY Times:
-Aetna Chief Says Public Plan a Distraction - Ron Williams, chief executive of the giant insurer Aetna, has been the most vocal insurance executive in favor of an overhaul of the health care system — as long as it does not include a public, government-run health plan.

Washington Post:
 -Why the Health Care Debate Is So Explosive - When Harry Truman first proposed national health insurance, Senate minority leader Robert Taft (R-Ohio) promptly tagged it "the most socialistic measure that this Congress has ever had before it." Shouting socialism in the middle of the red scare detonated a serious charge.

-Why Obamacare Is Failing - At first it seemed plausible that President Obama had a communications problem on health care -- to which the solution was always more and more Obama. But exposure did not translate into persuasion.
National Association of Insurance Commissioners: Lost in the din of this summer's health care debates is one important fact: there is a strong consensus that reform of the health care system is absolutely necessary. Click here to read news release.