"President Obama had few nice things to say about insurance companies in his speech on health care last night, but leaders of two of this region's largest private insurers -- Independence Blue Cross and Aetna Inc. -- gave him generally high marks anyway," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. He did draw one line in the sand that insurers hoped for: a mandate for all Americans to have health insurance. In exchange for such a mandate, insurers have said they would agree to end the practice of excluding people from coverage because of pre-existing conditions. One insurance executive said he found the "call to action refreshing" and that "we're closer to reform than we've ever been" (Burling, 9/10).
Insurance agents, on the other hand, aren't so thrilled. "Local insurance agents believe health care reform won't be good for their business, but they also seem certain that many families and individuals would not like sweeping changes," the Modesto Bee reports. "[B]rokers and agents who work with consumers every day [say they] believe many people are satisfied with the health system" (Carlson, 9/10).