Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee commended the nation’s leading health insurers in a letter Wednesday, urging them to continue working with Congress to find ways to offer higher-quality, lower-cost healthcare plans.
"We need to work together on insurance market reforms that will allow you to offer higher-quality health insurance plans at more affordable prices," Enzi wrote in a letter to Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans and Scott Serota, president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association .
"Your willingness to find possible areas for compromise to solve our health crisis is a good sign that a bipartisan deal is possible if everyone comes to the table with an open mind and an eye toward solutions," Enzi said. "As Congress works to ensure access to high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans, I hope that you will continue to work with us in a productive way to resolve these difficult issues."
Last year BCBSA issued a healthcare reform plan with detailed recommendations to Congress on how to improve the quality and value of the U.S. healthcare system.
At the White House healthcare reform summit in early March, Ignagni pledged AHIP's dedication to finding solutions to bring down healthcare costs and increase access.
Enzi's letter comes as Congress prepares to battle it out on comprehensive healthcare reform legislation before the end of June.
Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a bill that would create a federal single-payer healthcare system. Sanders' bill was endorsed by Physicians for a National Health Program, who say the majority of U.S. physicians support a single-payer system. Sanders' American Health Security Act of 2009 would save $400 billion on bureaucracy, providing enough funding to cover the nation's 46 million uninsured, he said.
Key Democrat leaders, including Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), are pushing for a public-private healthcare system.