The fragile consensus in favor of healthcare reform may be coming apart.
With the Senate Finance Committee due to vote on its reform bill Tuesday, the insurance industry’s trade group released an analysis saying the measure would drive up costs by thousands of dollars over the next decade.
The White House quickly fired back.
“This is a self-serving analysis from the insurance industry, one of the major opponents of health insurance reform,” spokesman Reid Cherlin said.
“It comes on the eve of a vote that will reduce the industry’s profits. It is hard to take it seriously,” he said.
The analysis commissioned by America’s Health Insurance Plans says insurance premiums under the Finance Committee plan would rise even faster than if the United States did nothing to reform its $2.5 trillion healthcare system, the costliest in the world.
The report, produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers, said the average insurance premium for a family of four is $12,300 today and would rise to $21,900 by 2019 if nothing is done.
