Kofman seeks health care waiver
Maine's insurance chief is asking the federal government to waive a provision of the health reform law, arguing it could drive away one of the state's insurance providers.
Insurance Superintendent Mila Kofman has ask the Obama administration to waive a provision that requires 80% of health insurance premiums be spent on patient care, an increase over Maine's required 65%, according to Capitol News Service. Kofman said the rise could lead HealthMarkets Inc., doing business as MegaLife Insurance, to pull out of the individual market in Maine. The company writes about 13,000 individual policies in Maine, about one-third of the state's total. "It's really important to make sure that the options that Mainers currently have stay in place," Kofman told the news service.
In the waiver request sent July 1 to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, Kofman argues Maine's rate is not as low as it seems, since state law does not allow taxes and other expenses to be included in the medical loss ratio. DHHS has not yet responded to the request.
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