The ranking member of the Washington State House Health Care Committee, Representative Joe Schmick, read my recent association health plan (AHP) post and shared the Insurance Commissioner’s letter explaining the agency’s recent actions. In his letter, the Commissioner addresses the administrative law judge’s decision disapproving the agency’s rating requirements. Disagreement over bona fide status was…
When I jokingly posted my “Ground Hog’s Day” video” here two years ago, I had no idea how depressingly accurate that joke would become. Our experience with federal health care reform has mirrored past attempts at reform through regulation. As I noted here when the Affordable Care Act was signed, it’s not the absence of…
The Washington Insurance Commissioner’s Office (OIC) responded to my public disclosure request and released the settlement agreement signed by the Business Health Trusts (BHT) and Commissioner Kreidler on September 28, 2015. The Agreement includes two exhibits. Exhibit A which alphabetically lists employers in each of the 13 different associations comprising BHT and Exhibit B which…
Many folks have asked for explanations and guidance on the creation or continuation of association health plans (AHPs) in Washington State. The tortured history of AHP regulation in this state defies any imposition of rational thought, let alone legal explanation. Here’s one example that you can mull over while you’re parked on the interstate. Just…
If I say that it’s change that I believe in, can I take a break from change – any change? The small employer health insurance market is still waiting to discover the contours of the small group health plans recently approved for sale by business and professional associations. Now we can also push reset on the definition of “small group.”…
Following a still unreleased settlement between the Business Health Trusts (BHT) and the Washington Insurance Commissioner (OIC), BHT attorneys withdrew the remaining administrative and federal court actions challenging the OIC denial of BHT’s “bona fide” association status under ERISA. The withdraw of the administrative appeals can be found here and withdraw of the Oregon federal court…
