Clinton Health Reform Proposal Fraught With Multiple Imponderables, CPCU Seminar Is Told.

• Position: LOOKING BACK INSURANCE ADVOCATE - 25 YEARS AGO

MALVERN, Pa.--There will be no place for the broker if health alliances are made mandatory and exclusive under President Clinton's proposed health care reforms, warned A. Michael Chodorcoff, CLU, ChFC, principal, Schechner Lifson & Chodorcoff, Inc., in "Priority One: Health Care," at The Society of CPCU Annual Meeting and Seminars here.

Chodorcoff added that if the reforms create an expanded bureaucracy, "we'll ultimately end up with a single payer system."

Referring to proposed price controls under President Clinton's plan, Chodorcoff emphasized that while some seem to think insurance can be sold for a price less than it is sold in the marketplace, "historically, we know price controls never work as well as the free enterprise marketplace."

To deal with workers' compensation and auto within the context of health care reform, the government has three options: coordination, merger, or specifically excluding them from any health care legislation, said Debra T. Ballen, J.D., CPCU, senior vice president, policy development and research, American Insurance Association.

Merger would be "more like a hostile takeover" and specifically excluding workers' compensation and automobile from legislation may have cost-shifting implications, so the coordination approach is preferable, according to Ballen.

"We are on alert against the possibility of merger in the final days that legislation is being drafted," Ballen said.

Gregory C. Krohm, Ph.D., CPCU, deputy commissioner, Wisconsin Insurance Commission, urged state rather than federal government-driven reform of health care, as state-based reform has already accomplished a great deal without any activity by the federal government, he said.

Krohm cited several examples of "amazingly innovative programs" in small states, including Hawaii's universal coverage and employer mandate; Oregon's policies; and excellent prototype models for managed care in...