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The Senate bill contains a provision long sought by the health insurance industry lobby AHIP. It would allow for the sale of “nationwide plans.” Theses plan would not be required to follow the state laws regarding what medical treatments must be covered. It is described as:
Allows insurers in the individual and small group markets to offer a qualified health plan nationwide, which is subject to only the State benefit mandate laws of the State in which the plans are issued; but requires such plans to provide the essential benefits package. Allows States to enact a law to opt out of allowing the offering of nationwide plans.
That sounds just like what AHIP has been strongly lobbying for:
Adoption of an “Essential Benefits Plan”: Small firms would benefit from the establishment of an essential benefits plan (outlined below), available nationwide, that provides coverage for prevention and wellness as well as acute and chronic care, and that is not subject to varying and conflicting state benefit mandates.
These nationwide health plans will, in effect, gut state health insurance regulations and create a race to the bottom. What will likely happen is what happened with the credit card industry: all the card companies moved to the two states with the absolute lowest regulations.
I can easily envision a scenario in which insurance companies stop selling in-state plans that meet the state benefit requirements laws, and only offer nationwide plans in those states. States that don’t opt out will lose their ability to make sure insurance companies cover what the people of those states think is essential.
This is a dramatic move by the federal government, forcing states to deregulate their health insurance markets. It forces states to pass another law just to make sure all the previous laws they passed will not be nullified.
I fear for the millions of Americans who will lose their current health insurance coverage because of this law. If you have a medical condition that your insurance company must cover by state law, but is not part of the new essential benefit package, you are in serious danger of losing that coverage. Unless your state opts out of the “nationwide plans,” there is a very high probability that your insurance company will “leave the state” and drop your coverage. That company will just move to another state and start selling a “new,” less regulated, nationwide plan in your state.
This provision completely breaks Obama’s promise that you will “be able to keep the health insurance coverage you have now.” How long do you think insurance companies will keep offering the coverage you have when the insurance companies are given a way to avoid your state’s regulations regarding what they must cover? The inclusion of this provision was a huge victory for the lobbyists from the for-profit health insurance corporations.
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Okay…. so lets see if I have this correct….. AHEM
The senate bill fosters, and assists the insurance companies profit driven pillage of the American People by superseding what little state regulation there is (and it varies from state to state, my state has terrible regulation) whilst simultaneously mandating that I purchase insurance and that my state can opt-out of the public option, even though I cannot opt-out of the mandate? Is there something here I am missing? Or am I getting this? Because if I am getting this, I think we need to put a match to this bill.
Agreed. This bill is a travesty of health care reform. Either (1) put a match to it, as you suggest, or (2) keep the guaranteed issue and rescission provisions while overturning McCarren-Ferguson.
Canada O Canada…
Per The New York Times, per a staffer at Senator Kirk’s Boston office (617.565.3170) (hearsay, to be sure) the penalty for failing to buy extortionate health insurance – if you don’t fall into an exception — is a fine. So it’s a civil penalty, not a criminal one.
One of the exceptions is apparently a religious objection to buying the insurance. If that provision makes it into the final bill, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
I’ve told both of my Senators to kill the whole thing and go back to the drawing board.
“The business of America is business.” – Calvin Coolidge
“As goes GM, so goes the country.” Eisenhower cabinet memory from long long ago
We…. are …. screwed – thanks Dems and Fearful Leader Obama.
Ya know, to sit for the citizenship test in Canada you only need to live there for 4 years. Not too shabby an idea actually.
wow. this is ginormous. thanks jon.
I majored in French…
lol.
you really don’t get it do you. If you get rid of the anti-trust exemption all it will do is allow them to sell across state lines (which is what the author doesn’t want). The other more damaging thing it will do is just what the author says but look at it this way.
Say you’re a resident of NJ like me. We have autism covered now (thank God) as of August. But the people of Mississippi for example may have no need or can’t afford what autism coverage costs. National plans won’t allow NJ residents autism coverage for those that need it desperately. You THINK you’re helping liberal causes but in effect you’re giving insurers exactly what they want.
But won’t people be able to shop on the exchange for coverage they want? Are you arguing that people will just buy the cheapest policy without knowing what to look for? And, since pre-existing condition denials are outlawed in both the House and Senate plans, in the even you need it, won’t you be able to purchase different insurance that does cover, say, autism? (Of course, who knows how much it might cost at that point…)
I have another question about this part of the bill: “only the State benefit mandate laws of the State in which the plans are issued.” Is “the state in which the plans are issued” the state the insurance company is based in (like South Dakota for credit card companies), or the state the policyholder lives in? It’s so hard for regular people to figure out this stuff!