ObamaCare has touched off a battle between Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield and Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. From the commissioner’s press release:
Kreidler orders Regence BlueShield to cover children
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler ordered Regence BlueShield this morning to stop illegally denying insurance to children, effective immediately.
“Regence is in clear violation of state law that prohibits insurers from denying insurance to people on the basis of age,” said Kreidler. “I was shocked and deeply disappointed when Regence announced its decision last week to stop selling insurance to kids.”
The Affordable Care Act requires all health plans to cover kids with pre-existing conditions…
Regence Blue Shield, the largest health insurer in the individual market, notified Kreidler on Sept. 27 that, effective Oct. 1, it would no longer sell individual health insurance policies to kids.
From Regence’s press release:
We were shocked by the Commissioner’s action and press statement this morning. This gross politicization of such a complex regulatory problem does not help address the very real economic challenges of providing coverage to Washingtonians seeking individual insurance policies, especially children.
Over the past several months, we have had at least five separate conversations with the Commissioner and his staff regarding planned changes to how we would cover children under age 19. Our goal in those discussions was and continues to be a solution that would allow us to serve all of our individual members – including children – without exacerbating costs and increasing coverage risks for the entire pool. Never once did the Commissioner or his staff express any concern that these changes might violate state law. We’re disappointed that the Commissioner appears to have suddenly changed his perspective…
We’ve been very clear that we will insure kids during open enrollment periods when the child is not the sole subscriber – and we will do so regardless of health status. Dozens of carriers across the country have found it necessary to adopt similar policies.
We disagree with the Commissioner’s action today and will consider how it might impact our ability to offer coverage to all individuals across the state. While more than ten carriers have deserted Washington’s individual market – leaving three today – Regence has continued to insure these members despite losses of more than $33 million in the last three years. While we remain committed to our individual members, we simply cannot expose our broader membership to greater risk. Therefore, we believe the changes we made are in the best interest of the nearly one million Washingtonians we serve today.
Washingtonians want and need an equitable, stable insurance market that people can afford. We want to avoid the mistakes of the 1990’s when a small minority was allowed to game the insurance system by purchasing insurance only when they were sick, which led to rate spikes and the collapse of the individual market.
Either way, the child-only market is toast.