There is a part of the Affordable Care Act that will require all health insurance companies to provide consumers with information about the cost of a health insurance policy and what it covers. The America’s Health Insurance Plans lobby says providing this information would be too expensive for insurance companies. What happens now?
When you see the phrase “Affordable Care Act”, it probably brings to mind some of the more controversial aspects of this series of health reform laws. You may be aware that the Supreme Court will hear a case this year that will determine if the individual mandate is constitutional or unconstitutional. The individual mandate is the part of the law that would require all Americans who do not have health insurance coverage in 2014 to purchase a health insurance plan.
There are a lot of Americans who do not have a good understanding of the Affordable Care Act, and the many protections it intends to provide. For example, I don’t think everyone is aware that it includes a law that requires health insurance companies to list the cost of their policies, and to list exactly what those policies will cover.
One of the biggest frustrations that Americans face when dealing with their health insurance revolves around this issue. Right now, it is nearly impossible for a consumer to find out exactly what a specific health insurance policy will cover.
Most of the time, the only way to know what your policy covers is when the insurance company refuses to cover something, and makes you pay for it out of pocket. The lack of information also makes it impossible to compare one policy against another, in order to find the plan that gives you the best value.
This year, a law is supposed to take effect that would require all health insurance companies to clearly state the costs of their policies, and to list what those policies will cover. They have to provide consumers with plan summaries that are written “in plain English”, and not in the confusing technical jargon that currently makes it so difficult for people to understand what a plan actually covers.
There is a lobbying group called America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). This group works to protect the interests of insurance companies, (not consumers). According to the AHIP, requiring health insurance companies to provide the easy to read information about the cost of a health insurance policy, and clear details about exactly what it will cover, will cost the health insurance companies $382 million to do. After two years of providing the required information, it apparently will somehow cost even more money to continue to provide it.
I have not seen anything that explains why the AHIP feels this is true, or how it came up with that $382 million figure. What I do know is that the insurance companies are threatening to pass that cost along to consumers, which will result in an increased cost of premiums. There is now some concern that this complaint will perhaps influence lawmakers to water down the requirement that insurers tell the truth. It remains to be seen what will actually happen.
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