A number of big insurers are going to voluntarily keep in place some Obamacare provisions even if it gets shot down by the Supreme Court later this month-
Taking some competitors by surprise, UnitedHealthcare was first out with the announcement that it would keep several provisions: covering young adults until age 26 on a parent’s plan, no co-pays for certain preventive care, stronger appeals, no lifetime limits and no retroactive cancellation of health coverage except in the case of fraud.
Within hours, Aetna announced a similar policy — as did Humana[.]
I'm not sure if this is political in nature as the article implies, but when it comes from Politico, their first line of thought is political.
Keeping college-age children on the plan is actually a money-maker if the kids are covered at a profitable rate; Obamacare didn't make them do that pro bono.
Cutting the copays on preventative care often saves them money, catching things early and avoiding bigger bills later. That can be profitable if they can pinpoint what preventative care is a positive net present value proposition.
The appeals and removal of limits could well be costly, especially the latter, but if the cost of adding the cap-free coverage can be passed on, that both creates good PR and makes money.
The improved appeal process might be the one the companies take a hit on, but that might well be a loss-leader to make them look more civilized and less miserly.
Yes, that will keep the Supremes and Republicans who backed repeal from quite the backlash from the usual suspects, but the insurers would happily toss them under the bus if it added a couple of percent to return-on-equity.
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