DELAURO, CONSUMERS UNION TO URGE SENATE TO REQUIRE HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES TO MAKE COST AND COVERAGE INFORMATION PUBLIC

WASHINGTON – As President Obama’s signature health care bill moves in the Senate, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., will join Institute for America’s Future health care project director Diane Archer, Georgetown University research professor Karen Pollitz and Consumers Union senior policy analyst Bill Vaughan to urge insurance companies to disclose information about the prices they charge and the care they cover that they are now keeping secret.

Participants on the call will share copies of letters signed by dozens of health care experts to Senate Finance Committee leaders, urging that this transparency be included in legislation to protect consumers and enable regulators to oversee and enforce rules included in the sweeping House bill (H.R. 3962) that passed last month.

HEALTH INSURANCE TRANSPARENCY

NEWS CONFERENCE CALL

DATE: Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009

TIME: 12 p.m. ET

CALL-IN: 888-378-0342, code 6524755

PARTICIPANTS:

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.

Diane Archer, health care project director, Institute for America’s Future

Karen Pollitz, research professor, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute

Bill Vaughan, senior policy analyst, Consumers Union

Copies of the letters can be found at the links below

Institute for America's Future and Health Experts
http://www.ourfuture.org/files/IAF_Transparency_Letter.pdf [3]

Consumers Union
http://www.prescriptionforchange.org/2009/12/more_transparency_needed_in... [4]

Health Access
http://www.ourfuture.org/files/Rukavina_letter.pdf [5]

National Physicians Alliance
http://www.ourfuture.org/files/NPA_Transparancy_Letter.pdf [6]