Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
The New
York Times
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September 24, 2000, Sunday, Late Edition -
Final
SECTION: Section 4; Page 14; Column 4;
Editorial Desk
LENGTH: 168 words
HEADLINE: The Cost of Insurance
BODY:
To the Editor:
Re "Frustration
Grows With Cost of Health Insurance" (front page, Sept. 18):
You note that both political parties have proposals intended to control
health care costs. But you do not acknowledge that both
presidential candidates and members of both parties support "patients' rights"
legislation that would significantly raise the cost of health
insurance, raising the number of uninsured Americans. More than
44 million Americans lack coverage. An estimate earlier this year by the
Congressional Budget Office indicates that the Dingell-Norwood "patients'
rights" bill would raise health insurance premiums by more than 4 percent. The
latest version of the bill is likely to be as expensive.
Since each 1
percent increase in premiums prevents 300,000 people from getting or retaining
coverage, the bill would likely add another 1.2 million Americans to the
uninsured.
CHARLES N. KAHN III
President, Health Insurance
Association of America
Washington, Sept. 20, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com
LOAD-DATE: September 24,
2000 
