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Hot Topics at NAHU: Michael Moore and Universal Health Care

The annual National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) is holding its annual conference here in Denver this week, and this morning Maribeth and I had the opportunity to chat with various conference attendees in the exhibit hall. (Yes, we've still got the infamous stress balls left—stop by tomorrow if you haven't yet gotten one!)

While we keep up with industry happenings each day, it really doesn't compare to getting out and talking with all of you guys and gals. It was specifically eye-opening for me to see the private health insurance industry react to Michael Moore's upcoming movie, Sicko (which examines the problems with U.S. health care), as well as the government's role in it.

In fact, NAHU President David Fear used his farewell address last night to sound off on Moore and the government's role in health care, vehemently declaring that the government need not intervene to provide health insurance to all Americans.

"I reject that thinking, and so should every one of you," Fear said. The recap of Fear's address was published in the NAHU's Daily News, a publication that is provided for each of its attendees for the duration of the summit.

Fear cited the NAHU mission statement, which states the organization's devotion to giving Americans access to private health insurance. And while Fear admitted that our health care system had issues, he cited its many successes, including that 85 percent of Americans are privately insured.

"[The health care system] has its challenges, but so do health care systems in Canada, Japan and other countries," Fear said. "We should be proud of the system we have and not be apologetic because it does work."

To combat universal health care initiatives, Fear stated that the private sector would need to "out-vocalize" advocates. He's also proposed a $50 increase in NAHU memberships, in essence, rallying the troops by stating they would have to "fund this war with our dues money."

While it's clear that those in private health care have a stake in what role (if any) the government takes on, I was a little surprised by how staunchly opposed to government assistance the industry truly was.

Which leads me to today’s poll question:

Do you agree with NAHU's opposition of universal health care?

This will surely continue to be a hot topic through the 2008 elections; I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts first-hand.

We'll be back at NAHU for the final day tomorrow, so please stop by and say hello!

[UPDATE 6.26.2007]: Check out the NAHU's stance on universal health care here. Thanks to Aaron for passing along the link!

Posted by Megan Mahan on June 25, 2007 02:53 PM |
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Comments

Thanks for a thought- provoking blog. I'm waiting to see Sicko myself - always good to be informed. And, I do certainly respect Moore's dogged pursuit of what he thinks is right.

Posted by: Lori Reed | June 25, 2007 10:11 PM

I think if your main customers at insureme are agents then it would be important to understand why we are opposed to "government assistance". see here. I think its also important to understand that a good health insurance agent, especially one working in the senior care market, feels their main value is in explaining coverages because they can be very confusing. Would you get that same service if agents didnt exist in these areas?

Posted by: Aaron Wallrich | June 26, 2007 07:30 AM

Aaron,

Thanks so much for your thoughts. This is exactly the kind of feedback I was expecting (and, frankly, hoping) to receive. Hopefully we can get a good conversation going about this issue in months to come.

Lori,

Thanks for your comment. :) One of the things that troubled me about Fear's address was the notion that the health care system is fine as is. It may well be working for the majority of us, but what about for 46 million uninsured?

I don't think there's anything wrong with bringing different ideas and solutions to the table when it comes to making changes to our health care system. Even if it includes viewing Moore's Sicko.

Posted by: Megan Mahan | June 26, 2007 09:05 AM

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