Vinehout plans health insurance reform
Five bills in state Legislature aim to ease transition to life after college
McLean Bennett
Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: Campus News
|
State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) announced plans Thursday at a local press conference to introduce a package of five health insurance reform bills in the state Legislature.
One of the proposed reforms, Vinehout said, would be to allow adults ages 19 to 26 to remain under their parents' health insurance plans unless they get married or find a job that offers more competitive coverage.
"Many people that I talked with that are in college or just out of college want to take a job but they're afraid that they have to look for a job with health insurance," Vinehout said. "I don't want health insurance to stand in the way of people taking that job that they really, really want to."
Several of the other proposed reforms include:
· Limiting the pre-existing condition exclusion period to one year.
· Limiting insurance companies' ability to look back into policyholders' medical records for pre-existing conditions.
· Providing protection against additional underwriting.
· Making the state's high-risk insurance pool more accessible.
· Authorizing the Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner to create a standard insurance application form.
During the pre-existing condition exclusion period, insurance companies can investigate claims as possible pre-existing conditions and deny coverage during the exclusion period, according to a document provided at the press conference. Vinehout's legislation would shorten the period from two years to one.
Be the first to comment on this story