Health coverage cancellation rules slowed in Calif.

After nearly a year of censuring individual health plans for retroactively canceling individual policies improperly, the California state agency regulating health plans has yet to complete rules addressing these cancellations.

In December, the California Department of Managed Health Care promised to issue new regs that would stop most retroactive cancellations cold. After that, the agency cited a handful of plans for rescissions it said violated state law, notably Blue Cross of California, which was fined $1 million.  

The agency promised to issue new regs on this subject in mid-2007. However, that hasn't happened. Critics say the DMHC may be waiting to see which way state health system reforms go; one feature of proposed reforms would be that insurers would have to take on all comers regardless of pre-existing medical conditions.

To learn more about the agency's plans:
- read this Los Angeles Times article

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