AHIP's Campaign for an American "Solution" sent me a link to a transcript of a recent live web chat on health care reform with Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, and Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans. Ignani's answers make a joke of Pollack's attempts to make common cause with these creeps.

Ignagni and the people selecting the questions make some classic moves:

When in doubt, don't answer the question:

MarinCA asks: Do your organizations support a public plan option? Why or why not?

Karen_Ignagni: We proposed an aggressive series of market reforms to ensure that all Americans have coverage, no one falls through the cracks, and no one is discriminated against due to their health status. We have also proposed aggressive regulation, transparency requirements, and measures to ensure that patients are protected. If all of this is accomplished then the question is why is a government-run plan needed?

Whip up fear about universal coverage by appealing to the "I'm all right, Jack" crowd:

Chris asks: I'm a doctor and am concerned about how health care reform will impact my patients. Will I still be able to give them the attention they need if we extend health coverage to all Americans?

When in doubt, don't answer the question:

David-GMA asks: Why should the American public trust health insurance companies to support reform when they were the ones to kill it last time?

Karen_Ignagni: David, thank you for your question.

Karen_Ignagni: We have committed to supporting comprehensive health reform and have offered a series of proposals that would change the way our plans are regulated.

Put cost containment ahead of meeting people's needs:

Jeffrey_Pankow asks: It is not clear to me how HEALTH CARE COSTS are going to addressed by the administration's health care reform legislation.

Karen_Ignagni: At the health care summit I was quite impressed by President Obama's passionate commitment to bending the cost curve and had the opportunity to listen to OMB Director Orszag discuss preliminary thoughts about how to accomplish that objective.

Karen_Ignagni: I believe this commitment is serious and that our ability to accomplish this objective is integral to reform being sustained.

Whip up fear about universal coverage by red-baiting:

Colton Smith asks: I saw on Fox News that Obama plans to have the government take over all of health care. Are your groups going to fight that?

Karen_Ignagni: The goal of health care reform needs to be to achieve a balance between the best of the public and private sectors. We have been concerned with the projections of how many individuals would move from private employer-based coverage to a government-run plan under certain scenarios.

Feed the universal assumption that health care is a free market by referring to people who need care as "consumers". Also, when in doubt, don't answer the question:

James asks: I hear a lot about comparative effectiveness research. Isn't this just another form of rationing?

Karen_Ignagni: Comparative effectiveness means giving consumers information about quality and cost that they have a right to know. In every other sector of our society we, as consumers, have access to this type of information. It's time for health care to enter into the 21st century and give consumers the information they need to make the decisions that are right for them.

When in doubt, don't answer the question:

Cherie from Boston: I'm a PhD student writing from Boston. Should we hold out until Congress finalizes a new Obama-approved bill, or support HR676? [Well, at least it was permitted to mention it! Yay! Sort of.]

Karen_Ignagni: I believe health care reform will be passed this year.

Karen_Ignagni: The challenge for Congress is to create a uniquely American solution that can pass and be sustained. Polls show overwhelming support for this direction and in Washington there is a new attitude about the ability to accomplish this objective.

Blame the uninsured for our problems and make them pay the insurance companies like the rest of us do:

John asks: I think everyone should be required to carry insurance. Otherwise, people just go to the emergency room and all the rest of us foot the bill. Everyone feels bad for the uninsured, but they are the ones making health care too expensive. I know a guy who is uninsured but drives a BMW. It’s a joke.

Karen_Ignagni: We agree and believe that there is overwhelming support for the concept of personal responsibility in health care. Each American is paying more than a thousand dollars to finance the costs associated with the medical care provided to those who choose not to be insured.

Add more patches to our current crazy-quilt system, and call it "reform":

Karen_Ignagni: In the stimulus bill a special provision was added to provide financial help to workers who lose health care coverage when they become unemployed. We strongly supported this provision as an important part of shoring up the safety net.

Tell lies about how well it works to force people to pay the insurance companies:

Karen_Ignagni: [...] Massachusetts now requires everyone to participate and no one falls through the cracks or has to subsidize those that refuse to purchase coverage. At the same time, it is important that the government provide a financial helping hand to ensure that working families can afford this protection and that aggressive cost containment features are part of reform.

The bottom line: Ignani and AHIP are our modern-day Circumlocution Office, showing us in every way, How Not To Do It.