Insurance Industry Says No To Health Care Reform Repeal

WASHINGTON--As House Republicans make their first run at the health care reform law, Democrats say the GOP is doing the bidding of big insurance.

"Why are they engaged in this effort?" asked Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District. "Because, quite frankly, I believe it's what the insurance companies want."

It just ain't so, comes the response from Hartford, where insurance giants such as CIGNA, Aetna, and UnitedHealthcare all have major corporate offices.

"Our focus remains on implementing the law and the various provisions that just recently took effect, from extended dependent coverage to enhance preventive care and tax credits for small businesses," said Daryl Richard, a spokesman for UnitedHealthcare.

The true role of Connecticut's big insurance firms, and other industry players across the country, remains to be seen. But there's little question they have much at stake as this new twist in the debate over health reform gets underway.

The House proposal to repeal the health care law is almost certain to pass, but it will likely die in the Senate. (The House vote was originally set for this week, but it has been delayed in light of the Arizona shootings that targeted, among others, a Democratic congresswoman from that state.)

If full repeal fails, Republican opponents have promised a fresh offensive, going after the law in bits and pieces.

Health insurance interests spent millions of dollars on lobbying in 2009 to help shape the original overhaul. And they've spent millions more in 2010 trying to influence federal bureaucrats charged with writing regulations to implement the law.

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