Tuesday, March 30, 2010

NEWS FLASH: Health insurance companies agree to obey the law.

A spokesperson for the health insurance industry said today that health insurance companies in the United States will obey the law when it comes to providing coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Karen M. Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans said: “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 [and] will fully comply with the rules under the new health reform law.” This is an enormous breakthrough for the Obama administration since previous administrations have generally considered health insurance companies above the law and therefore exempt legal constraints as have the insurance companies themselves. The new rules require that children with pre-existing conditions may not be denied access to their parents’ health insurance plan and insurance companies will no longer be allowed to insure a child but exclude treatments for that child’s pre-existing condition. The insurance industry complained that the law saying they could not “deny” coverage to children with pre-exisiting conditions nor “exclude” treatments for a child’s pre-existing conditions was overly vague. William G. Schiffbauer, a lawyer whose clients include health insurance companies expressed the opinion of at least some or perhaps many in the health insurance industry and The Attack Democrat suspects many Republicans that the provisions of the law dealing with coverage for children with pre-existing conditions should be repealed and replaced, after extensive study to get the language right of course. “The real solution here is a legislative fix so all players in the industry can act according to a clear set of rules,” said Lawyer Schiffbauer. The Attack Democrat understands. After all what does it truly mean to not be allowed to “deny” coverage or “exclude” treatments? Inquiring Glen Beck minds want to know.

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