Tag: Preexisting conditions

Republican Bill For Preexisting Conditions Fails In House Committee

A committee in the West Virginia House of Delegates narrowly voted against passing a Republican bill to protect West Virginians with preexisting conditions, should a federal law currently providing these rights be repealed. 

Senate Bill 284 was contingent on the federal government declaring a significant portion of the Affordable Care Act, known commonly as “Obamacare,” unconstitutional. 

The ACA prohibits insurance companies from excluding or discriminating against consumers based on their preexisting health conditions, including cancer, diabetes, depression and epilepsy, among other diagnoses. 

A federal appeals court panel ruled in favor of a Texas lawsuit last year, agreeing that the ACA violates the U.S. Constitution based on a different section of the law requiring individuals to purchase health insurance. The Supreme Court is not expected to weigh in anytime before the 2020 election.

The House Health and Human Resources Committee on Saturday voted 12-11 against sending the bill to the full House of Delegates for consideration. 

Although lawmakers spent a fair amount of time asking committee staff and a representative from the attorney general’s office about the bill, there was no debate before their vote. 

Delegates on both sides of the aisle raised questions about the bill’s unclear cost. The legislation called on the state Insurance Commissioner to create a reinsurance program that would assist health insurance companies covering individuals with serious and costly health care needs, but the bill didn’t specify how the state would pay for this program.

Democrats focused several of their questions on state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and his role in the Texas lawsuit threatening the ACA’s existence. 

Morrisey was one of several other Republican attorneys general in 2018 to he join a lawsuit challenging the ACA in a U.S. District Court in Texas. West Virginia Deputy Solicitor General Thomas Johnson — who works in Morrisey’s office — told delegates on Saturday that was due to reportedly increasing cost of premiums. 

Health experts paint changes in health care spending as more complicated than just increasing premiums. 

Del. Mick Bates, D-Raleigh, voted against the bill on Saturday, saying the bill did nothing to protect West Virginians with preexisting conditions. 

“The only one it protected was the attorney general, who filed the lawsuit against Obamacare for political reasons and had the Republican leadership run this bill so he had political cover,” Bates said in a text message to West Virginia Public Broadcasting. 

The Health committee made its decision less than a week after the bill cleared the full Senate on Tuesday, Feb. 25, after passing two Senate committee references. 

A second bill — a proposal from Senate Democrats — seeking to protect West Virginians with preexisting conditions was never acted upon and missed a key legislative deadline. 

Both bills are unlikely to return, after delegates rejected a motion to reconsider the Republican sponsored Senate Bill 284 toward the end of the Health committee meeting. 

A spokesman for Morrisey’s office did not respond to a request for comment Saturday evening. 

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

W.Va. Senate Passes Bill To Cover Preexisting Conditions, Should Obamacare be Repealed

The West Virginia Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that seeks to protect West Virginians with preexisting health conditions, in the event the federal law that currently provides those protections is repealed. 

Senate Bill 284 is on its way to the state’s House of Delegates after passing the Senate 20 to 14 Tuesday afternoon, along party lines. The legislation would only go into effect if the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” was repealed. 

The bill’s lead sponsor is Sen. President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, and it has support from West Virginia’s Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. Morrisey joined a lawsuit with other Republican attorneys general in 2018 to repeal the ACA’s individual mandate to purchase health insurance.

The bill would require the state’s insurance commissioner, currently James Dodrill, to issue a public notice when the federal government has determined “all or a significant portion” of the ACA in unconstitutional.

Dodrill and other West Virginia health officials will then work on creating a reinsurance program, to support health insurance companies caring for individuals who, due to a serious health condition, have high health care costs. 

The bill doesn’t specify a method for funding that reinsurance program, but it allows the state to study the implementation of a high-risk pool. 

West Virginia was one of several states operating a high-risk pool before the ACA began. Some experts have said these pools were more expensive to the people who benefited from them than they were helpful. 

Morrisey has said in numerous interviews and press conferences he joined the ACA lawsuit in 2018 due to “skyrocketing” premiums and concerns over constitutional rights. 

Several groups advocating for affordable health care have said a repeal of the ACA would affect people with preexisting conditions, if there’s not a backup plan in place. 

One of the bill’s opponents  —  Sen. Richard Lindsay, D-Kanawha  —  said in a Feb. 13 interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting the reinsurance program, depending on how its funded, could lead to higher premiums across the state. 

Lindsay spoke against the bill on Tuesday in his remarks to the full Senate, saying the Morrisey-supported bill was unfair to people with preexisting conditions who benefit from the ACA. 

“It would be analogous to having a three floor house with six bedrooms and four bathrooms,” Lindsay said, “and an individual burning it down to the ground, and forcing you to buy a house from him that’s half the size with very little space.”

He also opposed the bill because the Senate didn’t take up a Democrat-led bill, a shorter proposal which was introduced to protect people with preexisting conditions. That bill also didn’t address funding mechanisms.

A federal appeals court in New Orleans in December decided the individual coverage mandate in the ACA was unconstitutional. The federal court returned the case to a lower court in Texas who ruled the same thing months earlier, to determine how much of the ACA contradicts the U.S. Constitution, and what —  in the court’s opinion —  should be repealed.  

If the law is repealed, West Virginians also risk losing ACA-provided subsidies to pay for personal insurance. 

A report from West Virginia MetroNews in October said 22,600 West Virginians were enrolled in the state’s health insurance exchange last year. Eighty-eight percent of this population received subsidies in some amount, to pay for these plans. 

Senate Bill 284’s provisions for people with preexisting conditions only applies to West Virginians under the state’s jurisdiction, who purchase their insurance independently. The bill doesn’t do anything for West Virginians covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or private employment-based health benefits for companies which self insure. 

The legislation has been assigned to the House Health and Human Resources Committee for consideration. 

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.
 

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