States must act to secure health law's consumer protections, study says

Just 11 states have passed legislation enabling them to enforce consumer protections in President Obama's healthcare law, according to a new study.

Twenty-two states reported limits on their authority to do so, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit research foundation that supports the Affordable Care Act. 

The findings raise questions about how the protections will be enforced when they take effect next year. Study authors warned that states must act in the next 11 months unless they want to cede enforcement to the federal government.  

"Because states are expected to be the primary enforcers, most will need to implement the new protections so that they are reflected in state law or — at a minimum — give the insurance department the authority to enforce and write new rules," study authors wrote.

The market reforms include the law's ban on discrimination for preexisting health conditions and its requirement that plans cover certain essential health benefits.

According to the study, only Connecticut took action on all seven of the Affordable Care Act's market reforms. California addressed all but one, but did not require compliance from all health insurance plans, or in all markets.

Arkansas, Maine, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and Washington were the other states that took some action.

Read more from the study here.

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