CAHI Says Health Insurers Are Not the...( ALEXANDRIA Va. Aug. 5 -- Today...),Health

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Dr. Merrill Matthews, executive director of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI), released the following statement:

After months of several health care industry groups bending over backward to work with the Obama administration and the Democratic leadership in Congress on health care reform, the Democrats have apparently decided to make a pariah out of one (at least for now) of those groups: health insurers.

"Of course they've been immoral all along in how they have treated the people that they insure," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was quoted last week as saying. "They are the villains. They have been part of the problem in a major way."

One might have thought all that industry willingness to work closely with Congress and the administration would have earned a little respect. Apparently not.

And these aren't the ramblings of some rogue politician, nor are they off-the-cuff gaffes. I received some internal Democratic strategy memos last week; attacking health insurers is official Democratic policy now.

Democrats are losing their effort to dramatically restructure the health care system -- not just the health insurance industry -- and they have made a political decision to villainize health insurers in hopes of recapturing their earlier momentum.

Well, CAHI intends to defend the health insurance industry, which has been paying health care bills -- about $616 billion in 2008, according to the actuarial firm Milliman -- saving lives and protecting families' assets for decades. And, of course, picking up the cost shift from Medicare and Medicaid underpayments.

The vast majority of health insurers, the people working for them, and the agents who sell their products are dedicated professionals who, unlike most members of Congress and the Obama adm
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