Insurance Rhetoric

So Democratic leaders are upping the rhetoric on insurance to a full scale "war." (this being echoed by our own FLA politics). House Minority Leader Gelber is calling for Crist to have the upcoming three-week special session on the budget also cover insurance. The Democrat's old plan for the January special session is being revived; part of which, by the way, was for a Rate Reduction Authority, which would allow the state to respond to an insurance crisis without the legislature needing to convene.

There was an interesting story in the St. Pete Times on Tuesday on the cabinet meeting that, among other things, discussed insurance. Its an interesting read because it reveals a lot about the position of each cabinet member on insurance.

Crist:
"Let's make sure, or find out, if these companies are adhering to the letter of the law. It's the law!" Crist roared, punctuating each word with a fist to the desk. "And there are consequences to not adhering to the law."

Agricultural Commissioner Bronson:
"Let's just be honest with everybody and not play games where nobody really knows what that coverage is going to be."

Alex Sink proposed undoing the policy changes from the January session:
"Let's go back to where we were before, if it's not going to make any difference,"

Attorney General McCollum:
"I'm disappointed that the rates aren't coming down for some of these companies, but I think each company has a good argument to make, and I think that's why we have a process and the Office of Insurance Regulation."

Notice a trend? Sink and Crist are ready for changes, reform, action; Bronson and McCollum are sticking to Republican ideology on big business and want to keep their noses out of it. Crist is emerging as a real moderate - he's a populist on insurance regulation, a moderate environmentalist, etc.

Don't believe me that Crist is a populist? Check out the Orlando Sentinel's political blog's coverage of his meeting with their editorial board. "...these are people who live in Florida, some of them....don't they care about their fellow Floridians? Don't they have any heart? Don't they have any compassion?" Of course, I like the title of the post, taken from this quote: "My word, how much do we have to bend over to the insurance industry in our state?" For videos, look here; they give you some context: Crist was riled up because of all the diet Red Bull he's been drinking.

There's more: Rep. Dennis Ross wrote a letter in response to Insurance Commissioner McCarty's op-ed pieces in various newspapers around the state. Choice excerpt: "It is axiomatic that competition and market forces will result in better insurance products at better prices for consumers," and "Consumers have a right to have businesses competing for their interests, and they are entitled to choices." Thats some hardcore free-market rhetoric!

Of course, what the insurance industry wants is hardly free market. The industry has been spamming newspapers with op-eds to combat McCarty's pieces. From the Palm Beach Post, an insurance spokesman called for the legislature to "rein in the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp.... [and] create voucher and grant programs that extend the surplus matching program and help with increased deductibles." In other words, end socialized insurance in favor of corporate welfare.

So, in summary, this "insurance war" has the Democrats and Crist on one side, and Republicans and insurers on the other. Democrats want to follow the tradition of FDR and keep plugging away at reforms until something sticks - Crist on the other hand wants to stick with the law as it stands, but enforce it vigorously. Republicans either don't want to do anything (as shown by McCollum and Bronson) or want to prop up the insurance companies (as per Ross's letter). When I heard that Democrats thought they had the upper hand on this issue, I was incredulous, as the whole thing seemed unwinnable, but how things have been playing out recently have convinced me that they appear to right. Floridians are going to want reform and change, even if it doesn't turn out well, rather than just sitting on our asses until the situation fixes itself, or worse, cave into the insurance companies and start feeding them vouchers and subsides (corporate welfare! And, decidedly not "free market," despite the Republicans' rhetoric). That's why Crist's "bend over' language is so appropriate: its what Republicans want to do.

PS - I know insurance isn't a sexy issue, but I'm focusing on it this week because it's what our politicians are are focusing on. Praxis means practical politics.