State lawmakers with an interest in insurance are taking on their federal counterparts.
The leaders of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators are fighting two health insurance bills that were popular with House Republicans: H.R. 1101, the Small Business Health Fairness Act, and H.R. 372, the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act of 2017.
Tom Considine, the chief executive officer of NCOIL, and Steve Riggs, NCOIL's president, have written letters opposing the bills, and accusing supporters of the bills of attacking the traditional state-based insurance regulatory system.
Riggs, a Democratic state representative from Kentucky, said in a statement that state oversight of insurance workers is better than federal regulation because state officials are easier for consumers to reach.
"Giving more power to Washington, D.C., over insurance matters is a recipe for disaster," Riggs said.
H.R. 1101 would, in effect, give small employers a new way to avoid the fully insured small-group plans regulated by their home states. Small employers could opt instead to sign up for coverage from multi-state association health plans that would be regulated by officials in the association's home state.
House members voted 236 to 175 to approve that bill March 22. All but four of the 179 Democrats who voted supported H.R. 1101, and all of the Republicans who voted supported it.
