Humana on Health Reform: Costs Will Rise

Private insurers are among those reacting to the passage and likely signing into law of the health care reform bill.  Louisville-based Humana spokesman Tom Noland says the company stands to gain from it by the number of uninsured who will soon be added to the rolls – and have to buy their product.  But Noland says the company’s costs could go up.“Unfortunately, the bill doesn’t do anything to contain costs, which is the biggest problem in health care.  And in fact the incentives within the bill are going to likely raise costs rather than lower them," said Noland.According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation’s Kaiser Health News, it’s still hard to predict what the legislation could mean for individual and family premiums.  And the efforts that are in the bill to contain rising health care costs may not have much of an effect for years to come.