Main Street

The First Loophole

And they’re off!

You didn’t have to be a cynic to think insurance companies would try to find loopholes in the health care fix. But I must confess, even I am a little surprised at their first stab at it. On the list of individual parts of the reform that would be hard for them, or for politicians pushing repeal, to take back, this one would rank pretty high.

Yup, the insurance companies went after kids. Specifically, they said that while the law said they couldn’t deny kids for having pre-existing conditions, they just didn’t have to sell insurance to the entire family of a sick child. No, really.

Insurance industry lawyer William Schiffbauer told the New York Times, “The fine print differs from the larger political message. If a company sells insurance, it will have to cover pre-existing conditions for children covered by the policy. But it does not have to sell to somebody with a pre-existing condition. And the insurer could increase premiums to cover the additional cost.’’

This did not go over so well with policymakers such as Nancy Pelosi and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

And the insurance companies backed down. This time.

In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the industry’s top lobbyist said insurers will accept new regulations to dispel uncertainty over a much-publicized guarantee that children with medical problems can get coverage starting this year.

Quick resolution of the doubts was a win for Obama — and a sign that the industry has no stomach for another war of words with a president who deftly used double-digit rate hikes by the companies to revive his sweeping health care legislation from near collapse in Congress.

“Health plans recognize the significant hardship that a family faces when they are unable to obtain coverage for a child with a pre-existing condition,” Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, said in a letter to Sebelius. Ignagni said that the industry will “fully comply” with the regulations, expected within weeks.

Anyone have any bets on which provision the insurance companies will go after next?

Tags: health care reform, insurance companies