Chaney in front in structuring health plans
When you hear Mike Chaney talk, he sounds like a character sent from central casting for a Confederate general’s role in “Gone With the Wind.” His rich Southern accent though is clear, not the molasses drawl of Haley Barbour.
Old South or not, Chaney as the state’s Republican Insurance Commissioner stands out from the GOP crowd who despise anything connected to President Obama, especially the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
Last week, Chaney, whom I have known and liked since he was a state senator from Vicksburg, the Civil War “Gibraltar of the South,” courageously (and apparently unilaterally) on November 14 submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services a detailed plan on how Mississippi will craft its health insurance exchange to comply with so-called Obamacare.
Chaney met the deadline for states to furnish HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius a compliance letter and a detailed plan if they intended to operate their own exchange. The exchanges are more or less an online market list of health insurance plans, showing price and benefits each company offers.
Bill MInor
11/21/12
