Obama Crowd Cheers Public Option, Boos Baucus Plan

When President Obama spoke in front of thousands of college students in College Park, Maryland on Thursday, the crowd cheered for a public health care option -- and booed at the plan from Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.).
Jed Lewison of Daily Kos pointed out the disparity.
Watch the University of Maryland students break into wild applause when Obama says there should be a government-run health insurance LinkHere

Health Care Stocks Soar With Release Of Baucus' Reform Bill

Max Baucus was paid handsomely (in campaign contributions) by the health care industry to deliver a health care reform bill that only the health care industry could possibly love. Well, mission accomplished! As Julie Hirschfield Davis reports for the Associated Press today, the Baucus plan "gives health insurers, drug makers and large employers reasons to heave sighs of relief, sparing them the higher costs and more burdensome rules included in other Democratic-written alternatives."
You can also measure the affection for Baucus' bill in the reaction of health care investors. Think Progress' Igor Volsky reports that, "Following Baucus' announcement, HealthNet shares increased by 3%, United Health Group Inc shares rose by 2.7%, Humana Inc. grew by 2.6%, Wellpoint stock gained 1.7% and Aetna Inc rose 1.6%."
Once again, I feel compelled to point out that while the money spent by lobbyists frequently aids and abets the degradation and diminishment of important legislation, the return on investment remains very high. When Max Baucus' Senate Finance Committee excluded a public option from their bill back in July, health insurance stocks rose dramatically.
Shares of U.S. health insurers rose broadly on Tuesday on hopes a health reform bill would not include a government-run option, which has drawn strong opposition from insurers who fear it would destroy the private marketplace.
The S&P Managed Health Care index of large U.S. health insurers closed 6.5 percent higher.
Aetna rose 12.6 percent, Coventry was up 12.7 percent and Cigna was 7.7 percent higher, all on the New York Stock Exchange. Centene rose 7.9 percent.
Teddy Partridge at Campaign Silo sized up the numbers, and bottom-lined it like this:
LinkHere

Health Insurance Company Revoked Policy Of HIV-Positive Teenager
Insurance Company Must Pay $10 Million For Revoking Policy Of Teen With HIV

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered an insurance company to pay $10 million for wrongly revoking the insurance policy of a 17-year-old college student after he tested positive for HIV. The court called the 2002 decision by the insurance company "reprehensible."
That appears to be the most an insurance company has ever been ordered to pay in a case involving the practice known as rescission, in which insurance companies retroactively cancel coverage for policyholders based on alleged misstatements - sometimes right after diagnoses of life-threatening diseases.
The ruling emerges from a conservative Southern state with one of the most pro-business climates in the country. And it comes as progressive Democrats on Capitol Hill are pressing for health care reforms, such as a public insurance option, that reflect wariness about the private insurance industry's motives.
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld a lower court's verdict against Fortis Insurance, now known as Assurant. The trial jury had awarded the former college student, Jerome Mitchell, $15 million in punitive damages; the Supreme Court reduced that amount by $5 million. LinkHere