States Decide on
Running New Pools for Insurance
Published: April 29, 2010 - New York Times
WASHINGTON — The fight over the new health care law shifted Thursday to the
states, as some governors claimed federal money to run a new insurance pool for
people with serious medical problems, while officials in other states said they
would not operate the program.
Friday is the deadline for states to tell the Obama administration whether
they want to run the high-risk insurance pool for uninsured people with
pre-existing conditions, or whether they will leave the task to Kathleen
Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services.
Democratic officials in Montana, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin,
among other states, said they intended to operate the program under contract
with the federal government. They were joined by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger of California, a Republican, who gave a rousing endorsement
of President
Obama’s health plan at a news conference.
But Republican officials in Georgia, Indiana, Nebraska and Nevada turned down
the opportunity to run the high-risk pool, as did at least one Democratic
governor, Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming.
Mr. Freudenthal said he worried that his state’s federal allotment of $8
million “may prove insufficient” to subsidize coverage for the next three and a
half years. The temporary federal program runs from July to Jan. 1, 2014, when
insurers will be required to accept all applicants.
Gov. Jennifer
M. Granholm of Michigan, a Democrat, hailed the high-risk pool as “a first
step in providing health care coverage for those who currently don’t have any.”
Mr. Schwarzenegger said, “We are ready to roll up our sleeves and work with the
federal government.” California expects to receive $761 million.
More than a dozen states have sued the federal government, challenging a
provision of the new law that will require most Americans to carry insurance.
But Mr. Schwarzenegger said, “The federal government has the right to force you
into having a health care plan.”
Karen E. Timberlake, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health
Services, said she and Gov. James E. Doyle, a Democrat, had decided to
participate in the federal program. The state expects to receive $73 million
from the federal government.
In Pennsylvania, Amy Kelchner, a spokesman for Gov. Edward
G. Rendell, a Democrat, said he was eager to participate.
Jonathan E. Seib, health policy adviser to Gov. Christine
Gregoire of Washington, a Democrat, said: “Even though the money is limited,
it can provide assistance that would not otherwise be available to people with
pre-existing conditions. We will manage the program within the dollars
available, $102 million over three years.”
But Gov. Dave Heineman of Nebraska, a Republican, said, “We are very
concerned that funding will not be sufficient,” even if the state limited
enrollment in the new pool.
The insurance commissioner of Georgia, John W. Oxendine, a Republican running
for governor, described the pool as “the first step in the recently enacted
federal takeover of the United States health care system.”
Another Republican, Gov. Gary R. Herbert of Utah, said federal officials had
not been able to tell him what would happen if the state exhausted its
allocation of federal money before 2014.
“I have strong concerns that the program is severely underfunded and will
ultimately result in yet another unfunded mandate on our state,” Mr. Herbert
said.
Rate-Increase Plan Withdrawn
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anthem Blue Cross withdrew plans to raise health
insurance rates for Californians by as much as 39 percent after an
independent audit determined that the company’s justification for raising
premiums was based on flawed data, the state insurance commissioner, Steve
Poizner, said Thursday. Anthem said separately that it would file a new
application for a rate increase, perhaps as soon as next month. It added that
any errors in its original application were inadvertent.