Some insurers, including Humana, are coming together to fund an advertising campaign against premium taxes required under the health reform law.
The industry will push for cuts or delays to the premium tax, Bloomberg reported. "Fairness of the tax is an issue," Bruce Broussard, Humana's president and incoming CEO, said during a Humana analyst conference. "It was done in haste and some details need to be corrected."
Stop the HIT, which is a coalition of health trade groups, and other business groups will lead the anti-tax campaign during the Congressional lame-duck session this year. Insurers "are not the best purveyors of that message," Heidi Margulis, Humana's senior vice president for public affairs, told analysts.
"I think you'll hear more on the airwaves during this period of time, the lame duck, about the impact of the premium tax," she added.
Margulis also boasted Humana's unique position to comply and adapt along with all the reform requirements, particularly because of its experience administering Medicare, she said. And since the post-reform market includes more collaborations between public and private programs, Humana's Medicare Advantage and Medicaid programs put the company in a strong position for success, reported Business First.
To learn more:
- read the Bloomberg article
- see the Business First article