Assembly Republicans making changes to association self-insurance bill

Feb. 20--Assembly Republicans have agreed to amend a bill that would allow businesses to self-insure workers so that they would still be subject to Wisconsin health insurance regulations.

The original bill, which was introduced less than two weeks ago, would have exempted associations that self-insure from state insurance regulations, raising concerns that it would draw healthy people into low-cost, low-coverage plans, destabilizing the individual market created under the Affordable Care Act.

Small businesses are currently allowed to come together to purchase health insurance. Supporters of the bill hope that by allowing small businesses to self-insure through associations they will be able to lower overhead costs.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said the changes were agreed upon after hearing concerns from insurance companies who worried about being put at a competitive disadvantage.

The Assembly is poised to pass the bill before the U.S. Department of Labor concludes a hearing process on proposed new federal rules for association health plans. The proposed changes would allow associations to offer health plans that don't include the 10 essential health benefits required under the Affordable Care Act, operate across state lines, and to offer stand-alone health plans. The comment period on the rules ends March 6.

Vos said Republicans support an amendment to the bill that will ensure the state Office of the Commissioner of Insurance can adapt to any changes put in place by the new federal rules.

"We want to be ready to go as quickly as we can," Vos said.

Vos tied the urgency in passing the bill to the failure of the federal government to repeal the ACA, also known as Obamacare.

"Obamacare is not fixed," Vos said. "It is not getting better in (Washington) D.C. so it's up to state legislatures to take action, which is why we're taking it up today."

The Assembly is also poised to take up a bill championed by Gov. Scott Walker that would seek to stabilize the Obamacare marketplace, which is used by some 216,000 state residents, by offering a reinsurance program.

The program would pay 80 percent of claims between $50,000 and $250,000 starting in 2019 with the goal of significantly reducing premium increases.

The premiums went up an average of 36 percent this year, compared with less than 5 percent for people who get insurance through employers, he said. For the vast majority of people on Obamacare, federal subsidies mask the premium increases.

The program is expected to cost $200 million a year, with Republicans banking on Medicaid savings to cover the cost starting in the 2019-21 state budget.

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