Insurance Lobby Puts Up a Fight

The health-insurance industry lashed out against health-care reform on Monday, issuing a report saying that the typical family premium in 2019 could cost $4,000 more than projected. The industry plans to circulate the report and promote it with advertisements, despite the fact that the administration spent much of the spring and summer wooing insurers. Administration officials went after the credibility of the report, noting that it was paid for by an insurance trade group. "Now that health-care reform grows ever closer, these health insurers are breaking out the same, tired playbook of deception to prevent millions of Americans from getting the affordable, accessible care they need," said a Senate Finance Committee spokesman. "It's a health insurance company hatchet job, plain and simple."