California and 41 states passed tough HMO Patients’ Bill of Rights laws because Congress refused to act. Now, a President Bush-backed plan would take those protections away and allow HMOs and insurers to replace real coverage with junk policies. FTCR and allies stopped a bill sponsored by Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming (S. 1955) to do just that. FTCR will remain watchful for new attacks on state patient protections.
Send a Fax to State Regulators – Put an End to Junk Insurance[Related: CA Legislators Records on H…][Related: Hold Health Insurance Indus…][Related: How Health Insurance Rate R…][Related: CA Legislators Records on H…][Related: Hold Health Insurance Indus…][Related: How Health Insurance Rate R…]
In response to mounting criticism over illegal cancelations of health insurance policies, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights filed a petition with state regulators calling for new rules to make it harder for insurers to cancel coverage when patients get sick. Regulators responded by saying that they would pursue new rules. Send a fax to ensure that those rules give patients the protections they need.
- Dana Christensen & Jerry Flanagan on PBS’ NOW program: "Payment Due"
- FTCR Urges CA to Ban Junk Insurance as Congress Seeks to Expand It
- Dana Christensen in D.C. to Oppose S. 1955 in Senate Health Committee
FTCR Discusses Junk Insurance (S. 1955) in 10 Minute Panel Discussion- FTCR Debates S. 1955 on CNBC
Higher Costs, Less Health Care
You buy health insurance to pay for unexpected medical bills and to protect yourself in case of a serious illness or injury. S. 1955, backed by President Bush, would have allow any HMO or health insurer to circumvent state law, price patients out of their current policies, and replace them with junk insurance that put patients at risk of medical bankruptcy.
People who are enrolled in these plans can end up owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills because they do not cap the amount that patients are required to pay or provide coverage for basic medical care like cancer screenings that diagnose illness at the outset when it is easy to treat. Dana Christensen’s junk insurance left her with $450,000 in medical bills when her husband Doug died from bone cancer.
These junk health plans, whose reach is currently limited, claim to provide comprehensive coverage but don’t prevent financial disaster if you get sick. S. 1955 would have allow any HMO or insurer to replace existing coverage with policies like the Christensens’ that covered only a fraction of the real costs of health care.
Without a limit on how much you must pay out of pocket for health care, insurance isn’t worth a dime.
Bush’s Junk Insurance Plan
President Bush is promoting these junk insurance plans as his health care solution for small businesses. Listen to Jamie Court’s recent Marketplace commentary.
The Bush-backed plan would exempt all HMOs and health insurers from state patient protection laws.
Key Issues at Stake:
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Essential state protections such as the right to visit an OB/GYN, cancer screenings, bans on "drive thru" deliveries, and guarantees of independent medical review if an insurer denies coverage for care would be eliminated.
- Insurers could sell inferior coverage at higher rates based on our gender, age, and where we live even though this type of discrimination is illegal in many states.
- The number of Americans that could fall prey to these junk health plans would be significantly increased and insurers would no longer be accountable under state law, regulators and courts.
The Bush plan does nothing to limit health insurer overhead and profits, the fastest growing component of health care costs.
Supporters claim that junk insurance will decrease the number of uninsured workers. But “insuring” more people in plans that don’t provide real coverage is a sham. Insurance that doesn’t meet basic health care needs means patients will not be able to afford care even though they’re counted as insured.
Medical bills caused half of all bankruptcies filed last year in the U.S. Three-quarters of Americans that declared bankruptcy in 2005 had health insurance.
Resources
FTCR’s letter of opposition to Sen. Ezi
FTCR’s letter of opposition to Sen. Feinstein
Sample S. 1955 opposition letter
State Insurance Commissioners oppose Junk Health Plan
39 State Attorneys General oppose S. 1955
Groups Opposed to Junk Health Plan
Association health plans have a 30-year history of fraud
Mila Kofman, JD, Health Policy Institute, Georgetown
S. 1955 – Claims vs Reality
National Partnership for Women and Families
What junk health insurance means for California
California Department of Insurance
Chart: State benefit requirements threatened by S. 1955
Questionable financial relationships between insurance companies and associations have led to conflict of interest allegations and a successful class action lawsuit.
Proponents’ financial interest in junk health plan
Scam insurers left Americans with $250 million in unpaid medical bills
U.S. General Accounting Office
