By Steve Davis - June 13, 2012
Led by UnitedHealth Group, several large health insurers this week pledged to abide by several popular provisions of the health reform law…regardless of how the Supreme Court rules later this month. UnitedHealth on Sunday June 10 announced that it would continue to provide coverage to its members’ adult dependent children up to age 26, continue to offer certain preventive services without a copayment and not reintroduce lifetime dollar coverage limits on policies. Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. released nearly identical messages the next day.
But continuing with those provisions will have little, if any, impact on earnings, and might actually improve the health of some members. Provisions that weren’t mentioned by the insurers include medical loss ratios, age-rating bands and guaranteed issue coverage.
The health insurance industry continues to rank just above the tobacco industry in terms of its reputation. Showing that it is doing the right thing for consumers certainly makes good PR sense, one former health plan PR executive told me. And getting out in front of the Supreme Court’s ruling shows the public that this was health insurers’ plan, and not something forced on them by the administration or the court.
But are health plans looking out for the interests of their members and clients by keeping popular provisions of a law intact? Or is this part of a coordinated PR strategy aimed at making sure lawmakers have a more favorable view of insurers after they peruse The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal Monday morning?
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