TEXAS Health Insurance : public colleges to sponsor a student health insurance plan : EasyToInsureME

TEXAS Health Insurance : A bill requiring four-year public colleges to sponsor a student health insurance plan for their attendees was passed by the full Senate last week and now moves to the House for action. The bill would require colleges to provide information about the college-sponsored plan to each student upon enrollment and to track health plan enrollment to help get an accurate count of the uninsured rate among students. The House has until June 1 to act on the measure. Aetna was instrumental in securing the bill's passage in the Senate and will provide testimony in favor of the bill in the House. The Texas Medical Association's "Code of Conduct" legislation was passed out of a Senate Committee last week. The very lengthy original bill was negotiated down significantly to include the following: a new cause of action for deceptive trade practices based on a health plan setting rescission goals or quotas; an external independent review process to determine the appropriateness of rescission decisions based on misrepresentation or preexisting conditions; annual disclosure of medical loss ratios by health plans; creation of a rate-contest procedure for small groups facing premium increases higher than 15 percent; and physician ranking regulations including guarantee of an external review process. The bill now moves to the Senate floor for debate. Aetna will continue to be actively engaged in negotiations on the bill.