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McGraw, Cline Speak Out for Health Screening Access: New Insurance Bill Undermines State Law in Place Officials Say

Posted on: Thursday, 4 May 2006, 09:05 CDT

By Paul J. Nyden, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

May 4--State Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline and Attorney General Darrell McGraw oppose health insurance legislation now pending before the U.S. Congress.

Sens. Michael B. Enzi, R-Wyo., and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who introduced the bill, say they want to help small businesses and trade associations purchase group health insurance.

But their bill removes guaranteed access to vital cancer screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies, and other preventative health tests.

Cline wrote a letter on April 28 to Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., expressing concerns about the impact the Enzi-Nelson Senate bill could have on West Virginians.

The proposed bill, Cline writes, will "undermine our current regulatory structure, lead to higher and unaffordable rate increases, and increase the cost-shifting that now threatens ... our health-care delivery system."

Cline believes the legislation would pose "a special threat to a state like West Virginia that is home to a high concentration of older workers."

Nearly 45 million Americans have no health insurance today, including 275,000 West Virginians.

McGraw is among 41 state attorneys general who signed an April 25 letter to all 100 senators expressing "strong opposition" to the bill they fear would "pre-empt state laws regulating all health insurance plans" in areas including required benefits and prompt payment of claims.

Cline is especially concerned the bill would overturn state regulations preventing insurance companies from "rating older or more-at-risk groups higher than younger, healthier groups."

On Wednesday, Cline said, "When we look at West Virginia and its aging population and the chronic diseases we have, the changes proposed by Enzi and Nelson's legislation could really have a detrimental impact on many of our citizens. That is our concern."

The attorneys general letter states, "Many insurance laws require a wide range of benefits including mammograms, routine gynecological care, and child wellness services and diabetes equipment....

"Allowing health insurers to abandon mandated benefits ... will result in an increasingly ill population and higher health-care costs," the letter states.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., said he wants the Enzi-Nelson bill to protect access to critical health tests.

"I share the concerns of West Virginians that proposed health legislation would eliminate many basic health-care protections, such as breast cancer and prostate cancer screenings and diabetes care.

"Screenings are one of the best ways to catch health problems early, save lives, and reduce exploding long-term heath-care costs. When the Senate takes up the bill, I plan to offer amendments to protect access to these important screenings," Byrd said on Wednesday.

Cline said the bill will strip power from state agencies "to regulate forms and rates, to initiate market conduct investigations and to initiate enforcement actions."

The bill would transfer that regulatory power to the U.S. Labor Department, under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. ERISA regulates self-funded insurance plans and multi-state plans.

"A significant number of our complaints relating to health insurance come from consumers covered under ERISA plans. We have no regulatory authority over those plans," Cline said.

"We have seen the problems and the challenges that consumers covered under those plans face."

West Virginia lawmakers already have made efforts to protect small employers and their employees.

"If you are a small employer with 10 employees, and one of your employees has a serious illness, that employer could see his rates increase. But our state law sets a limit," Cline said.

"Insurance is about spreading the risk. Our law limits how much an insurer can charge that company," she said. "And, as you get older, you have more needs and you will pay a higher rate."

Today, about 60 percent of uninsured Americans work for small businesses that cannot afford skyrocketing insurance premiums.

Byrd is co-sponsoring the Small Business Health Fairness Act, which would allow small employers to join together to obtain more affordable health benefits.

But the bill would not undermine core medical services that are already part of many existing health plans.

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Charleston Gazette

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