Monday, May 15, 2006

S 1955 Defeated--for now

Happily the Senate voted against bringing S1955 to the Senate floor for discussion and a full vote, so the danger of its passage is averted--for now. (60 votes were needed to bring it to the full Senate and it only received 55) Great "eleventh hour" advocacy effort on the part of lots of organizations and individuals! Joe's comment on the last blog about how he and other PKU sufferers in states like New York that provide stipends for special diets and coverage of their protein supplements would have been adversely affected are important reminders: We need to guard those health insurance mandates of our states even more closely these days.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Another take on S1955

Last night’s PBS show NOW was about a little understood group: the underinsured. There are people in states without those notorious and burdensome mandates for coverage, such as cancer screenings, diabetic supplies, emergency treatment, dental anesthesia, maternity benefits, prosthesis, metabolic disorders – well, you get the picture. If you want to see the whole list, Families USA has a state by state list of protections slated to be lost if the Enzi Bill (HR 1955) passes.
The Enzi Bill wants to allow small businesses to be able to form Association Health Plans ostensibly to be able to use the power of the marketplace to purchase health care like the big boys do . (I say ostensibly because it won’t really work out the same: they won’t be self-funded – just a group.)

Enzi takes the idea one step farther so that groups can form across state lines. This is classic Republican strategy: get a great title, give a cogent rationale, and leave out the nasty details. All the protections mentioned above came about due to individual state legislative action. Insurance is regulated by the states; if AHPs are allowed to form across state lines, no insurance board or commissioner will have jurisdiction, and plans can then cover, or not cover, whatever they like.

This is why it is so pernicious, and why you should call your Senator to vote against this bill. I tried on the “day of action” and couldn’t get through. Of course, I’m in New York, so I’m pretty sure Schumer and Clinton are opposed; but how about the rest of you?

BTW, American Cancer Society opposes its passage, too.



Crossposted at http://www.signalhealth.com