Proposed
Health Insurance Regulatory Changes Could Affect Access
to Care
Contact your senator today
to oppose Senate Bill 1955
THE ISSUE AT HAND
President Bush and some small employers are putting
strong pressure on the Senate to pass health insurance
regulatory changes to benefit selective employee groups.
This new initiative is known as the Health Insurance
Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act (HIMMA,
S. 1955). This bill is part of a larger health agenda
to enact Association Health Plans (AHPs) that have already
passed the House as H.R. 525. Advocacy groups are concerned
that the Senate Bill could pass under election-year
pressure, enabling negotiations with the House over
its AHP bill and producing a very destructive regulatory
framework for all commercial health insurance.
ACTION NEEDED
The HIMMA Bill S. 1955 will be voted on by the Senate
the week of May 8, 2006. You can help by contacting
your Senator immediately and telling him or her that
this bill is too destructive of essential insurance
protections for vulnerable beneficiaries and it must
be entirely rejected.
BACKGROUND
S.1955 is a highly complex bill that makes sweeping
changes in the health insurance regulatory environment
by federalizing many key aspects of insurance regulation
that are currently state responsibilities. One of the
goals of the bill is to “harmonize” the
regulatory environment, allowing small businesses to
pool together across state lines to get discounts on
health insurance. Large companies get better discounts
on insurance because they have more buying power. However,
these products would be cheaper because they would not
conform to state mandatory benefit requirements, provider
choice laws or consumer protections. They would in most
cases be “bare bones” insurance products.
Some of the services that would be affected or eliminated
include mammograms and other cancer screenings, behavioral
health care, coverage guarantees for clinical trials,
and off-label drug use. In addition, S. 1955 would introduce
a different premium structure that would make it much
more expensive for higher risk groups and individuals
to afford any health insurance.
IN A NUTSHELL
This bill attempts to expand health care access and
reduce insurance costs through the creation of small
business health plans. Small business health plans,
often called association health plans, or AHPs, offer
insurance coverage purchased through guilds on behalf
of the small businesses that make up their memberships.
However, if passed, the bill would take the unprecedented
path of preempting state insurance laws. As a result,
insurance companies and small business owners, instead
of locally elected policymakers, would decide the benefits
that consumers should have when they purchase health
care. States would have no recourse to protect residents
and they would lose their incentives to enact consumer
protection laws in the future.
Contact Your Senator
Sample Phone /Email Message
Members of the Senate must be contacted now to hear
opposition to S. 1955. A sample phone or email message
follows:
”My name is _________ from (city, state). As
a constituent I am calling to ask Senator (last name)
to oppose the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization
and Affordability Act (HIMMA, S. 1955). This Act would
exempt many new health plans from critical state laws
and regulations, thereby gutting existing consumer protections
and coverage requirements and increasing insurance premiums
for those left behind. I urge the Senator’s strong
opposition to this bill. Thank you.
Please visit the following link to find contact information
for your senator: www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
TIMING
It is critical for opposition to be heard immediately,
as the bill is scheduled to come to the Senate floor
the week of May 8.
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