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Report: 49 states moving forward with healthcare reform despite repeal rhetoric
Every state in the union save for Arizona has taken action to put in place consumer protections called for under President Obama's healthcare reform law, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund.
The report found that 49 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation, adopted regulations or taken some other action to put in place one or several of 10 new consumer protections called for under the law. The Obama administration is highlighting the report as evidence that state leaders see benefits in the law even as 26 states will argue for repealing it before the Supreme Court next week.
"These findings suggest that states have required or encouraged compliance with the early market reforms, and that efforts to understand how states are responding cannot focus on legislative action alone," the report says. "The findings also raise important questions regarding how states may implement the Affordable Care Act's broader 2014 market reforms, and suggest the need for continued tracking of state action."
• Prohibiting lifetime limits on coverage and
• Restricting annual limits;
• Requiring plans to cover young adults on their parents' coverage;
• Prohibiting rescissions except for fraud;
• Requiring preventive care without cost-sharing;
• Prohibiting plans from imposing preexisting condition exclusions on minors;
• Requiring plans that provide benefits with respect to emergency services to cover such services without prior authorization, regardless of whether the provider participates in the plan's network;
• Requiring plans to allow patients to designate any available participating primary care provider as their provider;
• Requiring plans to allow parents to choose any available participating pediatrician to be their children's primary care provider; and
• Prohibiting plans from requiring a referral for obstetrical or gynecological care.
Twelve states — Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Virginia — passed legislation to implement all 10 reforms, the report found.
