Federal Bill Seeks To Limit Health Insurance Denials
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) on Thursday introduced a bill that would reduce the waiting period for individual policyholders with pre-existing medical conditions to obtain full health care coverage, the Hartford Courant reports.
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, insurers are authorized to limit health care coverage for 12 to 18 months to individuals with pre-existing conditions before they can receive full coverage.
Courtney's measure would reduce the wait time to a maximum of three months.
Insurers under current law also are able to look at medical records for the past six months to determine whether an individual has a pre-existing condition or chronic illness.
Under Courtney's legislation, insurers would be allowed only to look at medical records for the 30 days preceding an application for coverage.
The new regulations would be extended to include individuals moving from one individual health plan to another. Current protections apply only to group health plans.
The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.), Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and William Clay (D-Miss.) (Marsden, Hartford Courant, 7/20).