Regence BS Ordered To Resume Selling Individual Child-Only Policies.

The Oregonian (10/16, Rojas-Burke, 271K) reported, "It's illegal for health insurers to stop selling coverage to children while continuing to sell to adults," according to Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, who "on Friday filed a cease-and-desist order against" Regence BlueShield. On its website, KING-TV Seattle (10/16) reported that Kreidler instructed Regence to "resume selling child-only insurance policies immediately." Kreidler said that by denying the child-only policies, Regence is "violating state law prohibiting insurers from denying insurance to people based on age."

        The AP (10/16) noted, Regence has said that most children are "covered under family policies, with child-only individual plans only accounting for about 3 percent of its Washington state policies." According to the Puget Sound (WA) Business Journal (10/16), Regence currently has "about 2,500 child-only policies." Its coverage discontinuation only applied to new policies.

        Washington's Business Examiner (10/16) "BE Daily" blog reported that Regence notified Kreidler "Sept. 27 that, effective Oct. 1, it would no longer sell" individual child-only policies. The company's decision came after Kreidler "issued an emergency rule creating a special-enrollment period from Nov. 1-Dec. 15." The rule allows state residents to enroll their children in an individual health plan "without having to take a health screen" during the special-enrollment period.

        The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (10/16, Ho, 114K) reported that Kreidler "said hundreds of concerned consumers" had contacted his office with "what he called Regence's 'blaming' of health reform for its recent rate hikes." Meanwhile, Regence issued a statement late Friday, calling Kreidler's action "a gross politicization of such a complex regulatory problem." The insurer said its decision to drop child-only policies "was a way to serve all members...without 'exacerbating costs.'" Although more than "ten carriers have deserted Washington's individual market," Regence has "continued to insure these members despite losses of more than $33 million in the last three years," the company emphasized, noting that it is now considering how the Commissioner's action "might impact our ability" to continue offering individual coverage in Washington state.

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White House Says Administration Will Win Florida Challenge Of Healthcare Law.

The AP (10/15) reported, "The Obama Administration says it expects to prevail in a lawsuit by Florida and 19 other states challenging the nation's health care overhaul." Although a federal ruling that "crucial pieces of the lawsuit can go to trial," Stephanie Cutter, "an Obama political operative, wrote on a White House blog" that the "ruling was procedural," and that "previous efforts by states to fight legislative acts through the courts have failed."

        Democratic Governors Working To Fight Suit Against Health Reform. The AP (10/17) reported, "Gov. Bill Ritter will collaborate with three other Democratic governors in a fight to defend a federal lawsuit that was filed against the country's health care overhaul legislation." Notably, "Ritter joined governors in the states of Washington, Pennsylvania and Michigan in an agreement that calls for their offices to share information on the lawsuit. The Denver Post reports the lawsuit will be handled for free on behalf of the governors by law firms in Florida and Washington state."

        The Denver Post (10/16, Hoover) reported, "The four states have Democratic governors who support the health care law and Republican attorneys general who have joined the suit challenging it. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers signed onto the suit in March." Notably, this is "not the first time Colorado's Democratic governor and Republican attorney general have disagreed on a legal issue and sought separate paths in court, and the same can be said of past governors and attorneys general of different parties," yet "no one could remember an instance where governors from multiple states were drawn together to fight attorneys general in multiple states over a national issue."

Republicans Could Impede Health Reform Implementation If They Win Midterms.

The Financial Times (10/18, Kirchgaessner, subscription required) reports that it is well known in political circles that the GOP's promise to "repeal and replace" the healthcare law will be virtually impossible to fulfill while Barack Obama is president. Yet, Republicans can still take action to impede implementation of the law if they win the House in November. For instance, they could focus on unpopular provisions, such as the 1099 tax requirement for businesses which many Democrats would like to see eliminated, and they could withhold funding from HHS, thereby frustrating the Administration's efforts to implement health reform.

Healthcare Law Requirements Expected To Impact Selections For New Health Plans.

Walecia Konrad wrote in the New York Times (10/16, B6) Patient Money column, "This is the time of year when your employer allows you to make changes to your benefits package -- most importantly, to your health insurance." Just "as in years past, employers will be rejiggering their plans with an eye toward passing much of this year's increase in health insurance costs to employees," with "health insurance premiums...expected to rise an average of 8.8 percent," and "employees' out-of-pocket expenses...expected to increase 12.5 percent from 2010." Yet, "the biggest changes arrive this year courtesy of the new health care law," which requires "employers to extend health insurance coverage to uninsured dependents up to age 26, eliminate any lifetime caps on coverage, and pay 100 percent of the cost of annual physicals and some other preventive care."

Poll Shows Americans Still Evenly Split On Healthcare Law.

The Washington Post (10/16, Dropp) reported the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll shows "an electorate still about evenly split on the healthcare law: 46% of voters for it, 50% against. Moreover, more than three-quarters of those who oppose the changes say they support an effort to cancel the healthcare reform measures. ... Support for the bill, though, dips lower among those who are most likely to turn out in November, with opposition rising to 55 percent of likely voters in the early October Post-ABC poll. As they were in March, older Americans are skeptical of the reforms. Four in 10 adults ages 50 and up support the changes, compared with more than half of younger Americans."

Ungar: Conservatives Point Out Health Reform's Shortcomings, But Offer No Solutions.

Rick Ungar wrote in the Forbes (10/16) The Policy Page blog that recently, "the most widely read blog on the topic of health care reform was a piece written by Ed Morrissey and published by the right-wing blog, Hot Air." Morrissey's piece included projections indicating health reform would increase the physician shortage in the US, and Ungar said, "You don't have to be a Mensa member to work out that adding 35 million more patients into the mix would cause a substantial increase in the shortage." He added that "as I read through the article, I anxiously anticipated Ed's proposed solutions to the looming physician crisis," so "omagine my disappointment when I discovered that there were no proposed solutions -- only gloating and joy that our pressing health care difficulties might make the President look bad."

Star Tribune Criticizes Sebelius Over Rules For Child Only Plans.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (10/16) editorialized, "Health insurers are typically cast as the heavy in the long-running drama that the federal health care overhaul has become," yet "when it comes to the rollout of one early provision of the 2010 Affordable Care Act -- wider insurance options for sick kids -- Minnesota's nonprofit insurers deserve sympathy as they grapple with clumsy decisions made recently by federal and state officials." On October 13, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote to insurers saying that restricting the sale of plans to children with pre-existing conditions would be "legally infirm," and "HHS officials said Friday that they had made this clear months ago, but many in the industry disagree. At the bare minimum, Sebelius should have written this letter long ago." This "situation doesn't inspire confidence about the implementation of the new law's more complicated measures."

Clyburn Suggests Public Option Could Be Revived If Democrats Keep Majorities.

The Hill (10/15, Fabian) reports, Majority Whip James Clyburn, appearing Friday on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, said Democrats could revive the public healthcare option if they maintain their majorities in Congress. He said, "Reelect me, keep Democrats on the field. And when we come back next year, maybe we will get to the public option." Disappointment over the public option and other issues, "such as the military's policy against openly gay service members and the still-open Guantanamo Bay military prison, has been identified as a few of the main reasons for the Democrats' enthusiasm gap with Republican voters. Clyburn acknowledged that, saying voters who are opposed to the Obama administration's top priorities are 'a little more energized than the people who felt that we did not do enough.'"

Kaiser Study Says Medicare Advantage Plans May See Modest Changes In 2011.

CQ HealthBeat (10/16, Reichard, subscription required) reported, "Seniors will see modest changes next year in Medicare's private health plans, according to a study released Friday - a conclusion seemingly at odds with Republican warnings earlier in the week that enrollees in the plans face big new costs and vanishing choices because of the health care overhaul law." But "after making adjustments for political spin and different time frames in their analyses," the "findings of the study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the GOP assertions," aren't "necessarily at odds." People enrolled in Medicare Advantage "plans with prescription drug coverage will see premiums rise by about $2 per month next year if they stay in their current plan," the Kaiser study said. Still, "all MA plans will limit their enrollees' out-of-pocket costs because of new regulations" issued by the CMS, the study also noted.

Insurance Agents Worry New Federal Mandates Could Shrink Business.

The Orlando Sentinel (10/17, Shrieves) reported, "Across the country, insurance agents are worried that the new federal mandates may shut them out of the health-care market." There are two changes that "could dramatically alter the landscape for insurance agents selling health-care policies." First, "starting in January 2011, insurers must spend at least 80 percent of the premium on actual health-care costs, not administrative costs - and that could dramatically reduce the commissions given to insurance agents."' Second, "in 2014, when health-care exchanges are supposed to be up and running, consumers will be able to look at Websites and figure out the best plan for themselves - possibly with no help from insurance agents." But "the federal law also creates a new role - that of a 'navigator,' someone who will help consumers navigate the process of choosing insurance." For agents, "the question is who will become navigators. .. will they be licensed, knowledgeable agents who actually help consumers choose insurance?"

State-Run Health Plans At Risk From Subsidy Losses In Pennsylvania.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (10/17, Toland) reported, "What would happen if tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians suddenly became uninsured sometime next year?" The state's "adultBasic program pays for health insurance for the adult poor. ... but one of the sources of adultBasic subsidy money, the state's Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurers, may soon be cut off." A "2005 agreement between the state and Pennsylvania's four major Blues -- a $1 billion, multiyear contribution called the Community Health Reinvestment Agreement, which funds adultBasic, Children's Health Insurance Program and other programs -- expires at the end of 2010." The Blues and the state "have been discussing a six-month extension of the adultBasic, but that has yet to be formally ratified. ... that means the program's future is still in limbo."

Utah Insurers Stop Offering Child-Only Policies.

The Salt Lake Tribune (10/18, Stewart) reports that Utah's two biggest insurance carriers, Intermountain Healthcare's SelectHealth and BlueCross BlueShield, have abandoned the child-only policy market indefinitely. The two companies "have said they'll take on sick kids only if they can add them to a parent's policy; and balked at doing that until Utah regulators issued a rule requiring them to open enrollment to children twice a year." The "question now is whether the open enrollment periods apply to all children. As of last week, Utah insurance officials were unsure."

Seniors Urged To Begin Considering Medicare Part D Plans Now.

The Los Angeles Times (10/18, Kritz) reports, "The sign-up period for Medicare Part D (Medicare's prescription drug program) for 2011 runs Nov. 15 to Dec. 31," and seniors are urged to begin considering their options early. "Eligible seniors (anyone with Medicare Part A and/or Part B) can choose from among several dozen plans in their area," and "each covers different lists of drugs and has different costs for premiums, deductibles and co-pays." Notably, "there are a lot of plans to review -- an average of 33 per state, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation."

        Part D Premiums May Not Rise As High In 2011 As Initially Thought. The Hill (10/15, Lillis) "Healthwatch" blog reported, "Costs for most seniors enrolled in Medicare's prescription drug benefit won't jump nearly as high next year as initially thought, an independent group reported this week." Avalere Health, a policy group, "estimates the average monthly premium for Part D's top 10 plans (by enrollment) will rise 0.2 percent in 2011 - a far cry from the 10 percent hike the same group estimated last month." Avalere said Friday "that the September estimate assumed current enrollees in First Health plans that won't be offered next year would be automatically switched into the company's Premier Plus plan (and therefore face the 43 percent premium hikes)." Instead, "Medicare intends to switch those beneficiaries into First Health's Premier plan."

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