Health Industry Newsletter
This month, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) will begin notifying employer groups subject to state continuation of recent changes to Illinois laws governing state coverage continuation.
The new law:
- Extends the length of state continuation coverage from 9 months to 12 months. All group plans that are renewed or amended after June 18, 2009 must provide for up to 12 months of continuation coverage. This is a permanent change in Illinois state continuation law.
- Provides a new special enrollment opportunity for electing state continuation coverage and applying for premium assistance subsidized by the federal government under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
- Entitles an individual participant to an additional 3 months of coverage at their full cost, regardless of the date they first elected coverage, if they are currently on subsidized state continuation and the group’s plan is renewed or amended after June 18, 2009.
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THE TRUTH: The health bills now before Congress would force you to switch to a managed-care plan with limits on your access to specialists and tests.
Two main bills are being rushed through Congress with the goal of combining them into a finished product by August. Under either, a new government bureaucracy will select health plans that it considers in your best interest, and you will have to enroll in one of these "qualified plans." If you now get your plan through work, your employer has a five-year "grace period" to switch you into a qualified plan. If you buy your own insurance, you'll have less time.
And as soon as anything changes in your contract - such as a change in co pays or deductibles, which many insurers change every year - you'll have to move into a qualified plan instead (House bill, p. 16-17).
When you file your taxes, if you can't prove to the IRS that you are in a qualified plan, you'll be fined thousands of dollars - as much as the average cost of a health plan for your family size - and then automatically enrolled in a randomly selected plan (House bill, p. 167-168).