House Vote Addresses Health Insurers' Abuses, Answers Americans' Prayers

President Obama had high praise for the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday for voting in favor of healthcare reform legislation. While polls suggest that large numbers of Americans don't know what's good for them, the President characterized the House's vote as a "victory for the American people" which "answers the prayers of every American who has hoped deeply for a healthcare system that works for insurance companies but not for ordinary people."President Obama reinforced the point by adding that the reform reins "the worst excesses and abuses of the insurance industry." Along with Congress, the President has also managed to correct some of the worst abuses of the Constitution and the established legislative process, which threatened to delay passage of healthcare reform through extended debate and deliberation.

As someone who reports on health insurers' use of technology to gain efficiencies, better monitor treatment and increase members' participation in their healthcare choices, I must have developed a distorted picture of what these companies are actually like. I had come to believe that rate changes, however high, were conditioned by real costs and, in any case, had to be justified to regulators. But who am I going to believe, my lying eyes or our beneficent President?

Now I begin to wonder how my contacts in the health insurance industry sleep at night. Possibly their excesses and abuses leave them exhausted at the end of the day. Fortunately, whether we know what's good for us or not, the President and Congress have found a way to put an end to the tyranny of health insurers. Some things turn out to be easier than they seem.I begin to wonder how my contacts in the health insurance industry sleep at night. Possibly their excesses and abuses leave them exhausted at the end of the day. Fortunately, whether we know what's good for us or not, the President and Congress have found a way to put an end to the tyranny of health insurers. Some things turn out to be easier than they seem.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio