According to a new report in the NYT's Prescription Blog, Obama will include new oversight power for the Secretary of HHS over excessive rate hikes by private insurers in the proposal that will be released later this morning.
By focusing on the effort to tighten regulation of insurance costs as a new element that had not been included in either the House or Senate bills, Mr. Obama is seizing on outrage over recent premium increases of up to 39 percent announced by Anthem Blue Cross of California, and moving to portray the Democrats’ health overhaul as protecting Americans from predatory insurers....
The president’s bill would grant the federal health and human services secretary new authority to review, and to block, premium increases by private insurers, and it would create a new Health Insurance Rate Authority, comprised of health industry experts that would issue an annual report setting the parameters for reasonable rate increases based on conditions in the market.
The legislation would call on the secretary of health and human services to work with state regulators to develop an annual review of rate increases, and if increases are deemed "unjustified" the secretary or the state could block the increase, order the insurer to change it, or even issue a rebate to beneficiaries. States would be eligible for a portion of $250 million in grants to finance premium review and approval.
The new rate board would be composed of seven members, including consumer representatives, an insurance industry representative, a physician, and other experts such health economists and actuaries, the White House said. The board’s annual report would offer guidance to the public and states on whether rate increases should be approved.
Previous reports have indicated that the Obama proposal will essentially be the compromise plan worked out by the House and Senate, designed to be able to pass via reconciliation. This proposal doesn't seem to have the requisite budgetary impact to pass muster with the Byrd rule to be included in the reconciliation package. But it could be included and a 60-vote waiver requested. That would have the result of putting Republicans (and ConservaDems) on the spot, forcing them to kill the provision that allows the government to regulate against insane, gigantic rate increases.
It might also be a smart move to pass this as a stand-alone, as the House is planning to do this week with the anti-trust repeal legislation, apart from the full package.