Last week, Together For Health leader Ann Marie Metzger submitted these comments on the governance of the Health Insurance Exchange:
I would like to comment on the recommendations made with respect to the governance of the Health Insurance Exchange, specifically the recommendation with respect to the make up of the Governing Board.
As an individual consumer and private customer of one of Minnesota’s health insurance companies, I look forward to the full roll out of the Affordable Care Act and having access to Minnesota’s Exchange, giving me the power over my health care by offering choice and portability and more importantly the ability to dump my current plan. This is unthinkable now.
As a consumer, I am not comfortable with any health insurance company having a seat on the Governing Board for the Exchange. Minnesota would be better served with a Governing Board made up of a majority of consumers and small business employers and employee representatives.
While the Exchange is being crafted to allow consumers to have access to all the information they would need to make an informed decision on the purchase of a health insurance policy, and that is a good thing, I worry that the companies offering these plans will still use all the creative and innovative tools at their disposal to keep me from obtaining the health care I need. I fear the creativity and the innovation of the insurance companies in their pursuit of profit over care. I fear that they will still be standing between me and my doctor, not just second-guessing, but keeping me from accessing the health care I need.
Ultimately, the Exchange should facilitate the delivery of affordable, accessible and quality health care for all.
I thank the Task Force and the various working groups on this very important and crucial work they are doing.
Want to know more on why we don’t want insurance executive foxes in the health exchange hen-house? Click here to watch our video — featuring real live chickens!
