Gov. Edwards’ Statement on Pre-Existing Condition Fix Supported by the Attorney General

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, March 29 -- Gov. John Bel Edwards, D-Louisiana, issued the following statement:

Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards issued the following statement on discussed legislation supported by Attorney General Jeff Landry to address a problem that Landry has caused by involving Louisiana in a lawsuit to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which hundreds of thousands of Louisianans rely on for health care coverage.

"It's ironic that the Attorney General wants to try and take credit for fixing a problem that he himself caused by involving the state in a lawsuit that eliminates protections for people with pre-existing conditions, without having a plan in place or consulting with anyone before doing so.

"Let's be clear: Jeff Landry endangered the health coverage of almost 850,000 people in Louisiana with pre-existing conditions because he was more concerned with politics than with real people.

"This bill is very similar to legislation I requested that was filed this week by Representative Chad Brown to make sure that insurance companies cannot discriminate against Louisianans based on their health status.

"I have always said the Affordable Care Act is not perfect, but that the protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions are critically important."

Click here (http://gov.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=addMessageClickThru&msgid=1976&uid=0&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fgov%2Elouisiana%2Egov%2Faction%2Ecfm%3Fmd%3Dcommunication%26amp%3Btask%3DaddMessageClickThru%26amp%3Bmsgid%3D1976%26amp%3Buid%3D0%26amp%3Bencoded%3D1%26amp%3Bredirect%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fgov%252Elouisiana%252Egov%252Fassets%252Fimages%252FDocument%255F1119464%252Epdf) to view HB 237 which the Governor asked Representative Chad Brown to file. The bill includes the following provisions:

* If a health insurer creates a health insurance plan, it must offer it to all Louisianans, regardless of a person's health status

* An insurer cannot exclude someone from a plan's benefits due to a pre-existing condition

* Health insurance must cover essential health benefits

* Health plans cannot establish yearly or lifetime dollar limits on the number of services they cover

This builds upon current Louisiana law that does not allow insurance companies to charge more because of a person's health status and allows young adults to stay on their parent's health plans until age 26.

Governor Edwards' previous statements on this issue:

* March 26, 2019: Gov. Edwards Issues Statement on the Affordable Care Act and Pre-Existing Conditions (http://gov.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=addMessageClickThru&msgid=1976&uid=0&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fgov%2Elouisiana%2Egov%2Faction%2Ecfm%3Fmd%3Dcommunication%26amp%3Btask%3DaddMessageClickThru%26amp%3Bmsgid%3D1976%26amp%3Buid%3D0%26amp%3Bencoded%3D1%26amp%3Bredirect%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fgov%252Elouisiana%252Egov%252Findex%252Ecfm%252Fnewsroom%252Fdetail%252F1845)

* December 17, 2018: Governor Edwards' Second Letter to Speaker Barras About Legislation to Protect Louisianans with Pre-Existing Conditions (http://gov.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=addMessageClickThru&msgid=1976&uid=0&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fgov%2Elouisiana%2Egov%2Faction%2Ecfm%3Fmd%3Dcommunication%26amp%3Btask%3DaddMessageClickThru%26amp%3Bmsgid%3D1976%26amp%3Buid%3D0%26amp%3Bencoded%3D1%26amp%3Bredirect%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fgov%252Elouisiana%252Egov%252Findex%252Ecfm%252Fnewsroom%252Fdetail%252F1855)

* December 14, 2018: Gov. John Bel Edwards Statement on Ruling by Texas Supreme Court (http://gov.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=addMessageClickThru&msgid=1976&uid=0&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fgov%2Elouisiana%2Egov%2Faction%2Ecfm%3Fmd%3Dcommunication%26amp%3Btask%3DaddMessageClickThru%26amp%3Bmsgid%3D1976%26amp%3Buid%3D0%26amp%3Bencoded%3D1%26amp%3Bredirect%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fgov%252Elouisiana%252Egov%252Fnews%252Fgov%252Djohn%252Dbel%252Dedwards%252Dstatement%252Don%252Druling%252Dby%252Dtexas%252Dsupreme%252Dcourt%252D)

* September 11, 2018: Gov. Edwards Asks House Speaker Barras to File Legislation Protecting Health Care Coverage for Louisianans with Pre-Existing Health Conditions (http://gov.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=addMessageClickThru&msgid=1976&uid=0&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fgov%2Elouisiana%2Egov%2Faction%2Ecfm%3Fmd%3Dcommunication%26amp%3Btask%3DaddMessageClickThru%26amp%3Bmsgid%3D1976%26amp%3Buid%3D0%26amp%3Bencoded%3D1%26amp%3Bredirect%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fgov%252Elouisiana%252Egov%252Findex%252Ecfm%252Fnewsroom%252Fdetail%252F1576)

* September 10, 2018: Attorney General's Lawsuit threatens health coverage for 849,000 Louisianans with pre-existing conditions (http://gov.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=addMessageClickThru&msgid=1976&uid=0&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fgov%2Elouisiana%2Egov%2Faction%2Ecfm%3Fmd%3Dcommunication%26amp%3Btask%3DaddMessageClickThru%26amp%3Bmsgid%3D1976%26amp%3Buid%3D0%26amp%3Bencoded%3D1%26amp%3Bredirect%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fgov%252Elouisiana%252Egov%252Fnews%252Fattorney%252Dgenerals%252Dlawsuit%252Dthreatens%252Dhealth%252Dcoverage%252Dfor%252D849000%252Dlouisianans%252Dwith%252Dpreexisting%252Dconditions)