One drum that our opponents keep beating in their effort to stop us from truly reforming the health insurance system is that the real problem is “mandates”—that if Delaware would just get in line with the rest of the country when it comes to mandated coverages, we could reduce the cost of health insurance.  Let’s take a closer look at this claim.

The Council for Affordable Health Insurance is the health insurance industry’s research arm, and it publishes the claims on mandates that are parroted by our opponents.  Some of its information about Delaware is just wrong.  It claims that Delaware has an “autism” mandate.  We don’t.  It mischaracterizes Delaware’s law stating that care otherwise covered by your insurance can’t be denied because it is part of a clinical research trial as a “mandate.”   And most of the things the Lee/Copeland ticket and the insurance industry call “mandates” are things that you would consider the core of what you are buying when you purchase health insurance—they list cancer screening, the right to stay in the hospital when you have a baby, and emergency room treatment as “mandates.”  The list goes on.  But here is the punchline.  Even when you factor in all of the insurance industry’s misrepresentations, when they tally it all up Delaware has the fifth fewest health insurance mandates of any state in America—by the insurance industry’s own estimates!

As I have already pointed out, our opponents’ idea that we can fix Delaware’s health insurance problems by allowing people to simply buy insurance from any health insurance company from any other state, whether or not the insurance companies are licensed or regulated here, is wrong for a number of reasons.  First, most out-of-state insurers have no contracts with doctors in Delaware.  Health insurance doesn’t do you much good if you can’t go to the doctor.  Second, if the last 20 years have taught us anything, it is that insurance companies not subject to proper state oversight will take advantage of their policyholders.  I am not prepared to have Delaware health insurance policyholders afforded the same amount of consumer protection as someone who buys a bunch of lawn ornaments from a guy named Sid on Ebay.  But finally, the insurance industry’s own statistics show that there’s not even any reason to think that insurers in other states are any more prepared to rush to the rescue of Delaware policyholders than the ones already doing business here.

It is not surprising that our opponents’ solution to the health insurance crisis is to deregulate an industry that is one of the most notorious in America for what it will do to consumers if left to its own devices.  But even the insurance industry’s own rigged numbers don’t support their proposal.

Last Saturday was the annual Democratic Party Jamboree at Cape Henlopen   And, of course, this was a Jamboree like none before—Democrats trickled in late this year, because they wanted to first see our Joe Biden’s first appearance on television as the next Vice President of the United States.

Joe did not disappoint, and neither did the Jamboree.  All of the talk—or, I should say, all of it from anyone who had a lick of common sense—was about the amazing developments of what was then the past 24 hours.  When it was my turn to speak, I told everyone how Michele had shaken me awake at 2:00 that morning shouting “It’s Joe Biden!”, to which I had responded “why is Joe Biden in our house?”

Sunday was back to the campaign trail, but Saturday was a great day to celebrate.  There are some pictures of the boys & the lovely Mrs. Denn (Joe has made it ok to publicly say that your wife is a knockout) at the Jamboree posted at http://flickr.com/photos/10766064@N06/.  

Even before the big announcement, someone gave Joe Biden a treatment once accorded only to names like Tina Turner, Rod Stewart and Bananarama. Here’s a video of Joe speaking at last year’s Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, done in the style of VH1’s Pop-Up Video. (For those of you too young to remember the late 90s, there is a Wikipedia entry about Pop-Up Video, which should stand as monument to the internet’s simultaneous vast extent and sheer ridiculousness.)

Hopefuls for governor, lieutenant agree on problems, not solutions

The News Journal, August 22, 2008

WILMINGTON — Candidates for the state’s two highest offices agreed improvements are needed in education, the state prison system and crime prevention — disagreeing mostly about the means but rarely the ends.

The candidates for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Charlie Copeland and Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn, faced off for the first time. They were joined by three of the four candidates for governor at an event hosted Thursday night by the Urban League.
Democratic Lt. Gov. John Carney and Treasurer Jack Markell and Independent Mike Protack were the three gubernatorial candidates on hand. Republican Bill Lee declined an invitation.

Republican Copeland and Democrat Denn disagreed on the issue of eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of drug offenses – one of Copeland’s banner issues.

Copeland sponsored legislation in the Senate that would give greater discretion to judges when handing down sentences. The reform would reduce prison crowding and allow judges to reduce sentencing for first-time offenders, but also couple them with rehabilitation programs, creative use of community service or other programs, Copeland said.

The problems with mandatory minimum sentences are larger in Wilmington, Copeland said, where almost every area is within a restricted number of feet from a park or school, doubling the sentences for people who would get arrested for the same crime elsewhere in the county.

But Denn said doing away with mandatory minimum sentences is like “throwing the baby away with the bath water.”

Denn said most mandates deal with punishing dealers who carry large amounts of drugs. He said the solution is stricter enforcement of the laws and implementation of the mandatory sentences.

Copeland responded that the handing down of punishments should not be made beforehand by legislators in Dover, but judges with experience who are able to review details of a crime.

Protack said sentencing should be adapted for the nature of the crime.
“If you’re a violent offender, rot in hell, I really feel strongly about that, but if you have a disease, we will help you,” Protack said.

The two topics that drew the most response from the crowd of about 150 people were education and crime prevention.

Moderator John Watson, talk show host at WILM NewsRadio, asked the candidates to explain how they would correct some of the problems with state’s education system.

Each candidate said they think there are too many school districts in the state and would support some form of consolidation.

“If I had a magic wand to wave at our education system, I would wave it to increase the level of participation of parents,” Markell said.

Carney and Markell said they would “scrap” the Delaware State Testing Program and replace it with a new test.

“A moratorium on charter schools is moving in the wrong direction,” Copeland said.
Protack pointed to the Vision 2015 report and said he would support the implementation of the report’s recommendations.

“We should reward teachers who take on additional challenges, and we should reward teachers who have results,” Denn said.

The candidates fielded a question about the lack of public high schools in Wilmington. Most agreed that more access was needed to public schools, including increased funding for an inner-city school to address the needs of many of the low-income residents.

Delaware State News, August 20, 2008

DOVER — Insurance Commis­sioner Matthew P. Denn slashed workers’ compensation insur­ance premiums Tuesday by 11.57 percent, a move designed to save Delaware businesses more than $14 million.

It is the second straight year Mr. Denn has ordered workers’ comp rates cut — he ordered 17.75­22 percent in cuts in November, which was the largest cut in insur­ance rates in at least 25 years.

“When I took office in 2005, our rates were among the high­est in the country,” Mr. Denn said. “ With the amount we’ve reduced rates in the past year — about 30 percent — we can call workers’ comp reform a success.”

And Mr. Denn said he expects to order at least another 10 per­cent in rate cuts by the end of the year. Delaware businesses, which have paid some of the highest work­ers’ comp rates in the country, shell out about $122 million each year for the insurance.

“This will help employers con­trol costs,” Mr. Denn said. “It will make businesses, like contractors who have to compete with out­-of-state businesses, be competi­tive.”

While Mr. Denn did not have comparative stats with other states in recent years, he noted that most workers’ comp rates throughout the country have ei­ther remained flat or increased in recent years.

Tuesday’s reduction is the di­rect result of legislation passed last year designed to save Dela­ware employers up to $43 million annually in workers’ compensa­tion premiums.

The new law creates a health care advisory panel to craft a fee schedule for medical costs and charges and standardized prac­tice guidelines for medical treat­ment of injuries, saving Delaware employers 15-21 percent in work­ers’ compensation costs.

But, in the order to insurance companies, Mr. Denn warned that the workers’ compensation insur­ance companies have “not made sufficient efforts to determine the potential cost savings to carriers of all of the provisions of Senate Bill 1,” and told the carriers and insurance department staff to provide him with information to consider additional reductions.

“I intend to ensure to the maximum degree permitted by law that any likely cost savings re­sulting from SB 1 are reflected in lower premiums rather than be­ing retained as windfall gains by insurance carriers,” Mr. Denn said in his order.

Delaware’s Insurance Commissioner orders an 11.57 percent cut

WILM, August 19, 2008

With this cut, Denn says, insurance rates will have dropped 30-percent in a year. He says the workers compensation rate cuts are the first resulting from the Workers Compensation Cost Control measures that were passed by the General Assembly this year.

“The eleven and a half cut that I’m announcing is a direct result of that legislation.”

The second part of these cuts come from an effort he began in 2005.

“The rate freeze in 2006 and the 17 1/2 to 22 percent cut in 2007 were the result of that effort from my office. This 30-percent cut has been a real partnership between the legislature, and the insurance commissioners office and the private sector.”

The latest across the board cut becomes effective October 1st.

WDEL, August 19, 2008

Employers in Delaware will soon be paying less for workers compensation insurance.

Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn has ordered an 11-and-a-half percent cut in average premium rates effective October first, and he says that’s good news for businesses.

The 11.5 percent cut comes on top of another cut Denn ordered last fall. Denn says this latest cut should mean savings of at least 14 million dollars a year to Delaware businesses.

Denn says physicians haven’t balked at new fees

The News Journal, August 20, 2008

For the second time in nine months, the state has ordered insurance companies to cut their rates on workers’ compensation premiums in Delaware, this time by 11.5 percent.

The move is expected to save employers $14 million, and marks another step in reform of the workers’ compensation system in Delaware, which had faced some of the highest rates in the nation.

Last fall, Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn ordered rate cuts ranging from 17.75 percent to 22 percent that went into effect the first of the year, and he said Tuesday that he will push for a further 10 percent reduction by the end of 2008.

“We’re happy. We’d rather see it be more like 50 [percent] or 60 percent … but we think we’re heading down the right path,” said A. Richard Heffron, senior vice president for government affairs at the Delaware Chamber of Commerce.

The lower rates in the current round of cuts can be achieved through a fee schedule that limits what doctors can charge for certain procedures, Denn said.

High rates here have put financial pressure on local firms and even limited economic development opportunities, observers have said. The cuts announced Tuesday become effective Oct. 1, and employers should receive a rebate for any overpayments, said Denn, who is a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

“Workers’ comp has probably been the No. 1 expense for contractors for a while,” said Ed Capodanno, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors Delaware chapter. “It’s good to have the curve go in the other direction a little bit.”

Denn’s order follows legislation that aims to reform the system by instituting standard physician fees, an effort that Denn said has not prompted doctors to push back. “We’re not aware of any doctors who were treating compensation cases who have stopped as a result of this fee schedule,” he said.

Heffron agreed. “Over a thousand doctors applied to be certified, which tells us they want to be in the system,” he said.

Lower rates are especially helpful in today’s economic climate, officials and businesses said. “It’s also good from an economic development standpoint,” Capodanno said. “A lot of companies that relocate here look at workers’ comp rates as an indicator of the economic climate.”

With rates in Delaware now roughly 30 percent lower than last year, Denn still believes there’s room to demand more savings from insurance carriers. Total workers’ compensation premiums paid by Delaware employers last year were estimated at $122 million.

This is going to be fun.

One of the themes of my campaign is that I have actually gotten some things done in Dover during my time there. Everyone agrees that our state has some serious problems that need to be addressed, the difference is that I actually have a track record suggesting I can take on those problems.

Yesterday’s announcement of another workers compensation premium cut in Delaware is another good example of that. I announced an 11.5% workers compensation premium cut yesterday, which combined with the 17-22% cut I announced in November, means that we have cut workers compensation rates by about 30% in Delaware in less than a year. The first cut was the result of our office’s intensive scrutiny of the insurance carriers’ accounting practices, yesterday’s cut was the result of bi-partisan legislation I helped craft to reduce the underlying medical costs of workers compensation. And we were able to do all of this with no impact on the awards injured workers receive, or on the quality of medical care they receive. It is a huge boost for our business community.

When I ran for Insurance Commissioner in 2004, the business community told me that workers compensation premiums were its highest insurance priority. I promised to address it, and I did. Now we have some concrete results to show for it—with more cuts expected before the end of the year. My opponent and I are both making a fair number of promises during this campaign. The difference is that I have a record of working across party lines to get mine done.