Aimed Alliance Report Reveals True Drivers of Health Care Costs in the United States

America's Misplaced Anger at Drug Makers: Health Insurers Hiding Profits to Justify Raising Prices

November 20, 2015 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new report from the Alliance for the Adoption of Innovations in Medicine (Aimed Alliance) brings to light the exploitative and profiteering practices of the health insurance industry. According to the report, recent calls for federal drug price controls are unwarranted. Instead, more attention must to be given to health insurers, who continue to engage in deceptive practices with little scrutiny. The report comes on the eve of the Obama administration's forum to discuss high drug prices.

Aimed Alliance is a not-for-profit organization working to improve health care in the United States. Its report details the true drivers of health care costs, highlighting the following points:

State laws are in place to address bad actors in the pharmaceutical industry, and state Attorneys General must enforce those laws.

Health insurers, industry-wide, have engaged in deceptive practices to hide profits.

Insurers seek billions in federal aid, while simultaneously skyrocketing premiums and deductibles.

State and federal legislators must enact new laws to prevent the profiteering practices of health insurers.

"President Obama's forum on high drug prices set for Friday is unnecessary," said Stacey L. Worthy, Director of Public Policy for Aimed Alliance. "Protections are already in place to enforce against the handful of bad actors in the pharmaceutical industry. State Attorneys General simply need to step in and enforce those laws. Instead, the Administration should focus its attention on the industry-wide exploitation and profiteering of health insurers. They are hiking prices and hiding profits to the detriment of consumers who reasonably expect value in return for their health insurance premiums."

As the report shows, not-for-profit insurers have placed billions of dollars in financial reserves, well above the recommended amount, and paid exorbitant CEO compensation packages. They have then massively raised premiums-by 49 percent in some states-while simultaneously asking for billions of dollars in financial assistance from the federal government. This type of action is prevalent among the entire industry rather than simply a few offenders.

Aimed Alliance's Director of Public Policy, Stacey L. Worthy, also sat down with One America News Network to continue discussing the Obama Administration's upcoming drug pricing forum and insurer exploitation in the health insurance marketplace. Worthy called for greater enforcement of existing laws to hold insurers accountable and protect access to care. View the full interview here.

Aimed Alliance calls on state and federal legislators to focus on the health insurance industry-the true drivers of rising health care costs.

The Alliance for the Adoption of Innovations in Medicine (Aimed Alliance) is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization that seeks to improve health care in the United States by supporting the development and utilization of novel, evidence-based treatments. For more information, visit www.AimedAlliance.org and follow @AdoptInnovation on Twitter.

For more information or to schedule an interview with Stacey L. Worthy, contact Ryan Hughes with Shirley & Banister Public Affairs at rhughes@sbpublicaffairs.com, (703) 739-5920 or (800) 536-5920.