Health insurers are sending out thousands of cancellation notices to individual policy holders, frustrating consumers who want to keep their current coverage, according to a Kaiser Health News report.
Insurance companies mainly state the policies they have decided to ax don't meet Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requirements, according to the report. Under the reform law, individual health plans must cover "essential benefits" such as prescription drugs, mental health services and maternity care. Insurers must also cap consumers' annual expenses.
Various insurers are dropping plans that cover sizeable chunks of their individual markets. Florida Blue is ending about 300,000 policies, 80 percent of its individual policies in the state. Kaiser Permanente in California has sent cancellation notices to approximately 160,000 people who make up half of its individual business in the state, according to the report.
Pennsylvania insurers Highmark and Independence Blue Cross have decided to cancel policies sold to customers with pre-existing conditions, leading consumer advocates to express concerns that the companies are trying to push out their most costly enrollees, according to the report.
However, insurers have stated they encourage customers whose policies are being cancelled to re-enroll in new plans. Highmark spokeswoman Kristin Ash told Kaiser people who may have had limited benefits because of medical conditions can get better benefits at a lower rate by purchasing new plans.
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