Major Insurance Companies Prefer Making a Killing over Protecting Kids, Garamendi Says
Press Release
Congressman John Garamendi (D-Walnut Creek, CA), California's Insurance Commissioner for eight years and a health care advisor to President Bill Clinton, today expressed his outrage that many for-profit insurance companies, including Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, and Cigna, plan to stop offering children's-only health plans instead of obeying the new Patient's Bill of Rights that requires companies to offer health insurance to children. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, beginning this Thursday, insurance companies offering children's plans can no longer engage in the discriminatory practices they've long exploited for unrestrained profit.
"Once again, we're seeing insurance companies put profits over people. They'd prefer to make a profit rather than offer insurance to our kids," Congressman Garamendi said. "We can handle this the easy way or the hard way. Either they back down from their latest outrageous stunt -- discriminating against children for a few extra pennies of profit -- or they can face the outrage of Congress, parents, and grandparents."
All Americans, including children, will still have access to high-risk pools through 2014, at which point denial of coverage for so-called pre-existing conditions will be outlawed in all insurance plans. In addition, some law-abiding insurance companies are not following the disgraceful path of Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, and Cigna, and will comply with the new law outlawing discrimination in health coverage for children.
"President Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress fought tooth and nail for a good health reform law. We specifically created the Patient's Bill of Rights to stop health insurance company discrimination. We are saving lives and improving coverage for millions of Americans -- despite the profiteers in the insurance industry," added Garamendi, who as California's Insurance Commissioner authored legislation that inspired President Clinton's health reform proposals. "Starting this week, key preventative services will be available without deductibles or co-pays; health coverage will no longer be arbitrarily cancelled if you get sick; and insurers will no longer be able to put lifetime limits on coverage. Yet as the greediest insurance companies seem all too eager to demonstrate, our work is not yet done."
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