Sawyer to Aetna: Insurance premiums continue to rise, healthcare costs continue to rise, insurance company profits are soaring, is the president right that you need to be kept honest in keeping costs low?
Head of Aetna: Let’s make sure we’re solving the right problem. We’re committed to helping the president. It’s difficult to compete against the person who’s refereeing the game. So let’s identify the problem we’re trying to solve.
Obama: Whatever rules the government imposes on insurers, it would have to abide by under the public option. So we’re not talking about an uneven playing field. An incentive for private insurers to get involved is the pool of new customers (underinsured, uninsured).
Gibson: There are doubts whether it is a level playing field. There are 177 million Americans with insurance through employers. A recent study estimates that 2/3 of that group would go to the public option government insurance because it’s cheaper for the employer.