Oxendine talks health insurance bill in Albany
23 01 08 - 11:15
.D. SUMNER j.d.sumner@.at.albanyherald.com ALBANY - Speaking to the Dougherty County Rotary Club, the state's top insurance regulator touted a health insurance reform bill as a means to heal what he called a gaping wound on the Georgia economy.
Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John Oxendine made his second stop in Albany during the last two weeks to generate support for House Bill 923, which was introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives last week.
Calling Medicare a "gaping wound" on the Georgia economy, Oxendine said the bill wouldn't solve the state's healthcare crisis, but would help keep the state from digging itself into an even deeper hole.
"We didn't get into this mess overnight, and we aren't going to get out of it overnight," he said.
The bill offers sweeping reforms to health insurance regulations including requiring companies to offer incentives for customers who lead healthier lives and requiring insurers to issue consumer- driven health care products.
But two of the most controversial provisions would allow sole proprietors - small business owners who run their companies by themselves with no other employees - the right to get group health insurance and would require health insurers to justify raising their prices.
"This is why Blue Cross has hired three lobbyists just to take on this bill," Oxendine said. "Those sole proprietors are treated like second-class citizens. We want to be one of the first states in the union to abolish that discrimination."
Oxendine said he believes that if all other types of insurers - automobile, property, worker's comp, etc. - have to justify to him why they want to raise their rates, then health insurers should too.
"If they want the rates to go up, they should open their books and justify it," Oxendine said. "If you're not hiding anything, then why shouldn't you be open about everything?"
Those who agree should call their state legislators, Oxendine said.