Political blunders fascinate me. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the train wreck, can't take your eyes away quality to them. Or maybe it's just reality television at its finest.
(Call me crazy, but I also get a kick out of finding out these cats are just like you and me. I couldn't blame George Bush Sr. for checking out his watch during the '92 debate. At least he only did it once.)
So seeing AHIP President Karen Ignani bungle this health care reform debate so badly is intriguing.
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Admittedly, Ignani didn't exactly pull off a Sweaty Nixon or a GI Dukakis-caliber foible, but I gotta question her logic in dealing with Sen. Max Baucus and the Senate Finance Committee as a whole. This "let's work together," "No, wait, let's not," approach shows a fatal lack of commitment, or strategy. Sun Tzu she's not.
I mean, honestly, what took them so long to figure out that all these health care reform bills floating around might just pose a threat to them? And where have the carriers themselves been while Ignani's been playing nice with the senators? Maybe she's just not returning their calls either.
Bottom line, AHIP should have gone on the offensive much sooner, and this PriceWaterhouse data should have seen the light of day long before now.
While we're on the subject, who's speaking for the consumer-driven side of the business? I've heard nothing in the national media on this subject. And even within our own community, the feedback to how damning this legislation would be to that segment of the business has been limited to a few e-mails from panicked readers. That doesn't bode well.
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