Senate candidate took aim at health insurance companies
05 08 08 - 12:02
Senate candidate criticizes health insurance providers
By TOM LINDLEY World Capitol Bureau
OKLAHOMA CITY — U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Rice took aim Monday at some health insurance companies that he claims make excessive profits by not delivering on the product they sell.
"I want them to make money; it's America," said Rice, a state senator from Oklahoma City who focused on key provisions of his health-care plan at a news conference at the Capitol. "The problem is the consumers aren't getting everything they paid when they signed the contract, and they are trapped because they have some sort of medical condition that prevents them from getting insurance from another company."
Rice also blamed Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., his opponent in the Nov. 4 general election, for not helping end the partisan gridlock in Congress and for relying too heavily on the private sector to fix the health-care problem.
Josh Kivett, campaign manager for the Friends of Jim Inhofe Committee, said Inhofe has long supported and sponsored legislation to make health-care coverage more affordable and accessible.
Kivett said Inhofe has worked to expand options for older people on Medicare, has ensured that seriously ill patients have access to trial treatments, and has made health-insurance coverage more available to small businesses and rural Oklahoma.
Rice said he supports a basic health-care plan that would be available to all Americans and would be paid for through a public-private partnership in which insured people would be charged based on their ability to pay.
He said his plan would guarantee that no one is denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions and would eliminate the insurance company practice of pre-approved denials.
Rice also wants to provide the public with the same health-care coverage that is available to members of Congress and guarantee that employees won't lose health insurance if they change jobs.
He said about 650,000 Oklahomans, including 130,000 children, are among 47 million Americans who are uninsured.
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