Are there any signs health care costs are easing?
From the feedback I’ve gotten, it’s worse. Two years ago when the CHIP program instituted rate increases, people would say they’d have to cancel their magazine subscriptions or their cable TV. Now I’m hearing people say, “I’m selling my assets. I’m cashing in my life insurance policy.” I’m hearing people making bigger sacrifices to be able to afford health insurance. The affordability level is encroaching higher into the middle-income population. And if the middle-income people are not going to be able to afford this, that’s where the meltdown occurs. Q: What about employers? A: We’ve become a global economy, and we’re competing against other countries that subsidize their health care through the government. On that basis, I think it puts our country at an economic disadvantage. Q: The bill by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., would set up an insurance exchange where people could shop for insurance if they didn’t have other coverage. Would you favor that? A. We’d be doing something that’s neve
