Arizona House Passes Health Coverage Bills Addressing Basic Individual Coverage, Small Business Purchasing Pool
The Arizona House last week passed two bills related to health care. Summaries of news coverage appear below:
- Individual coverage: The Arizona House on Tuesday voted 32-25 to pass a bill (HB 2757) that would allow health insurance companies to offer individual, basic health insurance policies that exclude some minimum coverage requirements, Capital Media/Arizona Daily Star reports. State Rep. Kirk Adams (R), who sponsored the legislation, said the bill would give Arizona residents a lower-cost option than policies that offer more comprehensive coverage. Health care providers say that the bill will compromise care, Capital Media/Daily Star reports (Capital Media/Arizona Daily Star, 3/14).
- Purchasing pool: The state House on Thursday approved legislation that would overhaul the Healthcare Group of Arizona, a state-sponsored health insurance plan that allows small businesses and self-employed individuals to participate in a health insurance purchasing pool, the Arizona Republic reports. The program is managed by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's Medicaid program. Supporters of the bill say that more oversight and regulation of the program is needed because it is running a deficit and might not have the necessary reserves to pay future claims. In addition, supporters say the program should be subject to the same regulations as private insurance companies. Tony Rodgers, director of the Cost Containment System, said a short-term deficit is anticipated and the program is expected to break even by fiscal year 2009. Rodgers said the legislation would result in many employees being excluded from the program and would block coverage for many employees' children and spouses. He added that the bill also would force the program to negotiate with private insurers that could set their own premiums. The bill now moves to the Senate (Crawford, Arizona Republic, 3/16).
