NAIC altering healthcare models
Vicky Beckett 18/07/2012
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is in discussions about altering model guidelines for health insurers, in the light of the US healthcare reforms.
Under the healthcare reforms, states have to impose minimum federal requirements on health insurers, so the NAIC is updating health insurance models, last updated in 1995.
Christina Goe, general counsel for the Montana Insurance Commission, has been working with the NAIC on this issue. “We are not changing the language, only updating the attachment points for health insurers, but what the NAIC is proposing is only a guideline for states,” she said.
“In 2010 we looked at models such as internal reviews and external reviews on claim denials, restrictions on annual limits and allowing parents to keep adult children on family insurance until they are 26.
“This is the next stage of those updates,” she said.
Jim Knutson, risk manager for Aircraft Gear Corporation, said that while he feels improving coverage is a good thing, he is concerned about the additional requirements and mandates.