State gives more time for bids on insurance
Faced with mounting questions about cost and coverage, a state agency yesterday again put the brakes on its fast-track schedule to define how much health insurance every Massachusetts resident must have.
The agency, the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector , extended the deadline for insurers to submit revised bids for plans that would meet proposed minimum standards.
The delay comes days after insurers said the proposed standards could inadvertently force more than 200,000 people with health insurance to buy additional coverage.
"We are using this additional time to meet and negotiate with the health plans," Jon Kingsdale , executive director of the connector, said in a statement yesterday. "What we do will affect not only those who don't have insurance today, but also those who have health insurance that may not meet the . . . standards set by the board."
Under the state's universal health insurance law, every adult must obtain insurance that meets the minimum standard by July 1 or pay a penalty. The only people exempted will be young adults, who are subject to a different standard, and people who can prove the minimum coverage is not affordable.
Kingsdale said that delaying the bids, which were due today, would not derail the board's goal of having insurance plans available for sale by May 1. But it does seem likely to delay the connector board's final decision on the minimum standards.
The board postponed a decision on the standards last week because of concern about the cost of basic plans.
Many of the initial bids carried premiums the board considered unaffordable. Based on those bids, the board estimated an average premium would be as much as $380 a month. The board asked insurers to submit new bids with lower price tags.
As insurers began work on those bids, the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans released numbers from a survey of five Massachusetts insurers indicating that many individuals have insurance that doesn't cover prescription drugs or that has drug coverage more restrictive than the board's proposed minimum standards.
Yesterday, the association president, Dr. Marylou Buyse, said, "We agree with the decision to postpone the bids in light of the recent numbers about the proposed impact on many people who are currently insured. We think it makes sense to take time to get this critical element of health reform correct."
Richard Lord, a member of the connector board, said he believed the delay was due in large part to questions about whether the proposed standards would affect many people who have insurance.
"I do think this is one of the most important decisions that the connector will make: What's minimal . . . coverage and what products will we be offering," added Lord, president of Associated Industries of Massachusetts. "I am pleased we are going to give the plans more time and give ourselves more time to get all the information we need."
An advocacy group that pushed for passage of the law said yesterday that it was not concerned about the delay.
But it took issue with the suggestion that proposed minimum standards would require 200,000 people to buy more insurance.
"They wouldn't necessarily have to pay more," said Brian Rosman, director of policy and planning for Health Care for All. "The insurers could rejigger the benefit package."
As for the bids, the board will set a new deadline at its meeting Thursday, Kingsdale said. The board could also decide to revise its proposed requirements for the new minimal plans.
The proposed standards would require insurance plans to provide "reasonably comprehensive coverage," including primary care, emergency services, hospitalization benefits, mental health services, and prescription drugs.
