Senate Bill Subverts Massachusetts' Attempt at Universal Health Care [View All]

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http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=64549
4/25/2006 3:32:00 PM


>WASHINGTON, April 25 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The viability of Massachusetts' closely-watched attempt to insure nearly all of the state's residents depends on state requirements for health insurers to take all applicants, a consumer protection that would be eliminated by legislation the U.S. Senate is expected to take a final vote on next week. Massachusetts lawmakers may vote as early as today on whether to override Gov. Romney's veto of employer responsibility and patient protection rules.

Massachusetts law requires insurance companies to offer insurance to all applicants (known as the "take all comers" rule), neither denying coverage nor pricing it entirely out of reach for those who are ill or at risk. S. 1955 (Enzi - Wyoming), would override these "community rating" laws and allow any health insurer or HMO to charge patients more because of their age, health or gender.

"This junk insurance bill is being peddled to the public as a way to cover more uninsured people, yet its chief effect would be to strip away state rate protections like Massachusetts', as well as Patients' Bills of Rights across the country," said Judy Dugan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR). "To pass such a bill during the Senate's Health Week even as Massachusetts struggles with how to enact its plan, is cynical and deceptive." Read more about the legislation here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/healthcare/pr/?postId=6148 <