Associated Press Answers Questions on Health Care Reform Waivers

The Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s health care reform bill signed into law last year, included many new regulations on insurance plans to protect consumers. Among these were a rule that abolished annual limits on coverage and a rule that mandated that 80% of your premium dollars must be spent by the insurance company on medical care for their patients. Both of these rules came online at the beginning of this year.

The Affordable Care Act also included a provision which allowed businesses and insurance plans to apply to the Department of Health and Human Services for temporary waivers from these rules. This is an important “safety valve” for plans as we transition to universal coverage in 2014. Because of the complicated nature of the health care market, insurance companies need time to comply with new regulations. Granting temporary waivers allows these companies to bring their plans in line with regulations and avoids sudden losses in coverage for consumers.

Recently, conservative politicians have accused the Obama administration of cronyism and corruption for granting these temporary waivers. A few weeks ago House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was accused of corruption when the Health Department reported that many businesses in her district had applied for and been awarded these waivers.  The owner of the company that received these waivers shot down this accusation saying “I usually vote Republican and I'm a little bit ashamed at where the Republicans have taken this.”

In response to this controversy, the Associated Press has produced an article answering common questions about the waivers. They quote from an analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation who finds no evidence of favoritism in the awarding of waivers and emphasize that these waivers are only temporary and can only exempt business from the two above mentioned regulations in the health reform bill. Their article does a good job of making the case that these waivers are temporary stop gap measures as insurance companies transitions to a more fair and regulated marketplace starting in 2014.

-- The Hill / CBS News / The Hill / The Associated Press