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 "There's something so fundamentally unfair about a person being
priced out of their health insurance after they've consistently paid
premiums year after year -- especially if it happens at a time when
they really need medical care," Blagojevich said. "This year, we
have an opportunity to pass the most comprehensive health care plan
in the country that would give every family and small business in
our state access to affordable health coverage -- even if they have
a sickness or health condition. While we continue to work with
lawmakers in Springfield to pass Illinois Covered and put a
long-term solution in place, we're going to do what we can now to
help rein-in insurance costs and protect coverage for people who
have it."
Blagojevich ordered the Illinois Department of Financial and
Professional Regulation, Division of Insurance, to file two rules.
The first rule prevents insurance companies from considering health
status when setting a premium on a renewed individual health
insurance policy. Insurance companies will be permitted to consider
only demographics and medical cost inflation when setting premiums
for renewing individual policies. The new rule will protect
consumers from being priced out of coverage after they've
experienced an illness or injury.
Individual or family insurance purchased on the private market is
significantly more expensive than either small or large group
insurance, costing on average $6,046 annually for an individual and
$15,534 annually for a family. More than 1 million Illinoisans
purchase their health insurance directly from insurance companies,
according to U.S. Census estimates. Currently, companies offering
individual plans are able to raise rates with virtually no
constraints.
"The cost of health care has really weighed on me," said Jo Ann
Dean, a retired nurse who is the guardian of her 17-year-old
granddaughter. "You know when you work, you pay $25 or $30 on health
care every two weeks. But I stepped out of the system and my
insurance increased to $400 a month for me and my granddaughter. You
don't have a choice; you have to have health coverage. Now it's gone
up to almost $700 dollars this month. I am just trying to keep up."
Ms. Dean recently took a part-time nursing job to help make ends
meet.
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In many cases, families that buy their health insurance on the
private individual market do not have the option of finding a new
insurance company if rates skyrocket due to illness or injury. If
they were to go to a different company, the illness that caused the
rate increase would be deemed "a pre-existing condition," and care
and treatment costs would be withheld from coverage. "In 2004, when I was running my own business and supplying health
care for myself and my family, I was paying over $1,800 a month for
health care," said Roy Bocchieri. "Business was good, but that
monthly premium was overwhelming. And every time it came time to
renew, the price would go up 40 percent. Later that year, I had to
take a staff job elsewhere and cut back on my business, primarily
due to the cost of health care. What made this more precarious is
that I have a blood disorder that needs constant attention, so I
don't have an option to drop to a minimal health care plan to bring
down the premium cost."
The second provision that was filed as an emergency rule Thursday
will, for the first time, require health insurance companies to
report quarterly how much they collect in premiums and how much is
spent on health care claims. The new reporting requirements,
starting Sept. 30, will provide the state the information necessary
to more stringently regulate rates.
"When the statewide Adequate Healthcare Task Force looked at the
challenges and problems in our existing health insurance s ystem, one
major point we noted was the lack of information about what
insurance companies charge and whether or not those rates are fair,"
said Salim Al Nurridin, a member of the task force, which was
created by Blagojevich in 2004. "The governor's new rule directly
addresses that issue. It's about consumer protection, accountability
and transparency."
[Text from file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information] |
