House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) recently sent letters to 15 top insurance companies seeking information relating to President Barack Obama’s statement that “if you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor.”
“The president sold his health care reform plan to the American people on two fundamental promises – ‘If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period,'” Issa said in the letter. “After millions of Americans received notices that their plans were being cancelled, the president was forced to acknowledge just how misleading his assurances were.
Issa requested documents related to the reevaluation of provider networks and payment rates, as well as communications with the administration about potential changes to health plans limiting or changing health care access.
“Now, there is mounting evidence that the president’s second promise is similarly untrue,” Issa said. “Even among the individuals fortunate enough to keep their plans, many Americans are finding that access to their preferred doctor(s) is being abruptly terminated…Some health insurers have acknowledged that they are slashing provider payment rates for plans offered on ObamaCare exchanges.
“The predictability of these impacts raises serious questions as to the origin and nature of the President’s assurances,” Issa said. “When pressed for an explanation, officials in the White House offered tortured redefinitions and obfuscations…The glaring inconsistencies in the Administration’s narrative, coupled with the dispositive evidence that millions of Americans are unable to ‘keep their doctor, period,’ demand rigorous examination.”
The letters were sent to Aetna Inc., Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida Inc., BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina Inc., Blue Shield of California, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Inc., Cigna Corporation, Health Net Inc., Highmark Inc., Humana Inc., Independence Blue Cross, Kaiser Permanente, Molina Healthcare Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc., and WellPoint Inc.