Health insurance companies wait for result




Sometime this month the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on how constitutional the Affordable Care Act really is.   And while there are many people who are deeply hoping that the ruling will go one way or another, it is health insurance companies who are waiting most impatiently.

“I'm less concerned about how they rule and more concerned about when we can actually get at fixing this," said Mark Bertolini, chairman, president and CEO of Aetna, the nation’s third largest health insurer.

Aetna, at least, thinks that it’s a great idea to require more people to have insurance, although they fear that the current penalty for not having insurance is a bit too small.  There are other reasons they wouldn’t necessarily mind if the Act goes through.

"Our organization has taken the view that when someone takes a $2.5 trillion industry and throws another trillion dollars into the bag, shakes it up, throws it on the table, and says 'Who wants it?' that's the time to get creative," Bertolini said in an interview in reference to the federal government’s contribution to the 30 million or so people expected to gain coverage.
Either way, however, everything is on hold until the court rules. 

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