The Obama administration has spelled out details of new insurance protections in a set of regulations it's calling the Patient's Bill of Rights.
The interim final rules implement elements of the Affordable Care Act, such as banning pre-existing condition exclusions for children under age 19, banning the practice of insurance rescissions, eliminating lifetime limits on coverage, and restricting annual dollar limits on insurance coverage. The regulations also address patients' right to seeing an ob.gyn. without a referral, and bar insurers from charging higher cost sharing for out of network emergency services.
The provisions will apply to most health plans for plan years beginning on or after Sept. 23, 2010, according to the White House.
The regulations were issued by the Departments of Health and Human Services; Labor; and Treasury in June.
In a speech at the White House, President Obama said the regulations establish the “basic rules of the road” for health insurers.
While he praised health plans for voluntarily implementing some of the new rules early, he also warned insurance executives that they should not use the new requirements as an excuse to raise rates. To that end, the administration will be requiring insurers to publicly justify rate increases and is encouraging states to use their full authority to review premium hikes.