NU Online News Service, Aug. 23, 4:13 p.m. – The New York State Insurance Department says it will be developing a new, standardized application form for the state's Healthy New York Program.
The Healthy New York Program, which began enrolling members in January 2001, helps small businesses and uninsured individuals buy standardized, no-frills health maintenance organization coverage at a reasonable price.
The state requires all HMOs in the state to participate in the program, but it tries to make participation as painless for the HMOs as possible by paying most of the bills for participants with annual claims costs between $30,000 and $100,000, according to an analysis by Katherine Swartz of the Harvard School of Public Health.
The New York department is now amending Regulation Number 171, the regulation that created the insurance and stop-loss programs, to give itself the authority to create a standardized application form.
