Wilton Democratic Town Committee

• February 25, 2010 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

by: Peggy Reeves, State Representative, 143^rd
Assembly District

I wanted to bring the bills listed below to your attention and encourage anyone who is affected by the sky-rocketing costs of health insurance to testify at the Insurance Committee’s public hearing on Thursday, February 25 at 1:00 in the Legislative Office Building at the Capitol in Hartford (LOB Room 2D).

In addition, the Healthcare Advocate, Kevin Lembo, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, and Legislators will hold a press conference on SB 194, AAC Rate Approvals for Individual Health Insurance Policies prior to the hearing at 12:30 in LOB Room 2A.

If you can’t attend, please consider submitting written testimony.

Connecticut Moves Forward on Health Reform: Transparency, Accountability & Coverage

The Insurance Committee will hold a public hearing on these three bills on Thursday, Feb. 25th at 1:00 in LOB Room 2D. Sign-up begins at 11:00 in room 2800. Please provide 35 copies of testimony to committee staff.

SB 194: An Act Concerning Rate Approvals for Individual Health Insurance Policies.

Premiums skyrocket in CT and across the country:

• Last week the Dept. of Health and Human Services released a report detailing shocking rate hike requests in other states, even as insurance companies report billions of dollars in profit.
• In Connecticut, last summer Anthem proposed a 32% rate increase on individual policies. The proposed increase affected 56,000 Connecticut residents—many of whom work for small businesses that can’t afford coverage and are locked out of larger pools.
• Under public pressure, the Insurance Department held a public hearing and heard from consumers, legislators, the state Healthcare Advocate, and the Attorney General.
• Still, the Department approved a rate hike of 16-20%–costing residents thousands of additional dollars in insurance premiums.

Empowering Consumers and Holding Insurance Companies Accountable for Premium Rate Hikes:

• In the past, the insurance company requests for premium increases have gone into effect after 30 days—there is no requirement for a public hearing or affirmative approval of these requests by the Insurance Department.

The new legislation:

• Eliminates Insurance Department’s ability to simply allow rate hikes to take effect without a public hearing.
• Requires insurance companies to notify all policyholders of requests for rate increases, and the date, place, and time of the public hearing.
• Requires insurers to disclose documentation in support of rate increases for public scrutiny.
• Limits reasons for a rate increase, and puts burden of proving that an increase is “reasonable” on the insurer.
• Empowers the Attorney General and the state Healthcare Advocate to intervene in rate cases and appeal rate decisions to the Superior Court.

SB 5235: An Act Concerning Evidence of Noncoverage of Health Insurance

Protecting consumer rights:

• Requires insurance companies to notify consumers in writing that a claim has been denied, include the relevant provision of the insurance policy, and instruct the consumer to contact the Office of the Healthcare Advocate for assistance with an appeal.

HB 5219: An Act Extending State Continuation of Health Insurance Coverage

Ensuring coverage access for unemployed workers:

• Extends COBRA coverage from 18 months to 30 months, so that laid off employees can keep their coverage for a longer period, at the lower group rate, as they look for new jobs.