The Los Angeles Times (4/28, Girion) reports, "Stung by criticism and facing tougher federal regulation, two of the nation's largest health insurers say they will stop the practice of dropping sick policyholders." Last week, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius criticized WellPoint, Inc. following a story which stated that the insurer cancelled the policies of customers who were diagnosed with breast cancer. The Times adds, "The moves Tuesday by WellPoint, Inc., the parent of Anthem Blue Cross of California, and Blue Shield of California, follow action by Congress and the Obama administration to crack down on the practice known as rescission."

        The AP (4/28, Murphy) also reports, "Health insurer WellPoint, Inc. said Tuesday it will start complying ahead of schedule with a health care reform provision that limits cases in which insurers can cancel coverage when a customer gets sick." The company "said that starting May 1, it will follow a reform guideline that restricts cases of rescission only to instances where a patient committed fraud or intentional misrepresentation."

        Reuters (4/28, Heavey) says that WellPoint made the announcement after House Democrats urged the company and six other insurers to cease rescissions based on pre-existing conditions. The other insurance companies included UnitedHealth, Humana, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Assurant Health.

        Politico (4/28, Haberkorn) notes, "The reform law wouldn't ban the practice until Sept. 23," although "House members asked insurers to voluntarily ban the practice sooner. Several insurers said last week they would voluntarily move up the implementation date of another provision of the law that allows young adults to stay on their parents' plans until age 26." Meanwhile, "Blue Cross Blue Shield Association spokesman Brett Lieberman said the group is reviewing the request."

        CQ HealthBeat (4/28, Norman, Ethridge, subscription required) reports that Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), commenting on WellPoint's action, said, "WellPoint took the first step. ... Now it's up to the other insurance companies to show they're serious about making health reform work." CQ notes that "Aetna responded to a reporter's inquiry by saying the company believes rescissions are 'still a necessary tool to fight fraud in the application process.' However, Aetna said it would work 'to ensure that our process fully conforms to the law and is implemented prior to the dates outlined in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.'" Meanwhile, Sebelius stated, "We want to make sure companies are not engaged in those activities right now, so we are going to work very aggressively not only to look at the practice that we've heard about in WellPoint, but other insurers who are targeting sick patients." The Indianapolis Business Journal (4/28, Wall) also covers the story.

Sandra Block writes in USA Today (4/28), "The health care bill signed into law in March allows adult children to remain on their parents' group insurance policies until age 26. Some states already allow adult children to remain on their parents' plan, but the maximum age varies, and some states limit the coverage to full-time students." Block says, "This change could provide a huge benefit for young adults who graduate this spring and don't have a job, or end up working for an employer that doesn't provide health insurance. But some graduates may not be able to jump on their parents' plan right away." She also recommends that parents make sure there is no break in coverage for adult children if coverage does not begin until next year. They should also determine if it is cheaper to purchase an individual plan.

        Federal Government Not Extending Dependents' Benefits This Year. According to McClatchy (4/28, Marcy), "Many parents breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that health insurance companies were opening up coverage to young adult children under the new healthcare law," but "lots of others -- including those whose parents...work for the federal government -- probably won't be able to get that coverage until next year. The federal employee health insurance program has announced that it's unlikely this year to offer young adults the ability to remain on their parents' policies until the age of 26."

        BlueCross BlueShield Of Utah To Extend Dependent Coverage Starting In June. The Salt Lake Tribune (4/28, Stewart) reports, "Starting in October, under the new federal health overhaul, dependent children can remain on their parents' health insurance plans until age 26 even if they're married. But one of the state's largest insurers, BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, has decided to voluntarily abide by the new federal rules early, starting in June." Other insurers are also "vowing early implementation," including "United Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente and Humana."

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