WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 9, 2010 – The Department of Health and Human Services issued new guidance that will give consumers more information about their health insurance plans. Under the new rules, providers who offer limited benefit or “mini med” plans must inform consumers in user-friendly language that the plan benefits are in no way comprehensive.
Following is a statement from Stephen Finan, ACS CAN’s senior director of policy. Finan is also a consumer representative to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and was one of the leading advocates of a careful MLR definition that would benefit patients.
"The announcement today will ensure that patients and consumers receive critical information about the quality of their plans and empower them to make informed decisions when considering their insurance options. Consumers in so-called "mini med" plans often don't realize that their policy is inadequate until they are diagnosed with a life-threatening disease such as cancer and suddenly face major hurdles to getting the care they need. People with mini-med policies deserve full and straightforward disclosure about what their plan covers and, more importantly, what it does not. Today's announcement follows guidance issued last month by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that requires insurers whose plans receive a waiver from the annual limit restrictions to notify policyholders of that fact. Taken together, these new requirements are helping to usher in a new era of transparency that will enable patients to make the best health care decisions for them and their families."
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Alissa Havens or Steven Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (202) 661-5772 or (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]