Some insurers ending children-only coverage because of health law

UnitedHealth Group and other insurance companies have stopped offering or are considering dropping children-only health coverage in several states "because of the potential added costs of insuring sicker youngsters under the new U.S. health-care law," Bloomberg reports. Among the states reporting these changes are Florida, Oklahoma and Kansas. "UnitedHealth won't sell new policies that cover only children, foreclosing an option used by parents seeing cheaper care, Kevin McCarty, Florida's insurance commissioner, said today at a meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in Washington, D.C. Commissioners from Kansas and Oklahoma said insurers in their markets had dropped child-only plans or discussed the move as well."

The new health law "bans insurers from denying coverage to children based on their health. That makes it more difficult for health plans to predict costs because families can wait until a child is sick to buy coverage, according to Kim Holland, Oklahoma's commissioner. The companies have responded by avoiding those patients altogether, she said" (Nussbaum, 7/23).

"The move could affect several hundred thousand children," The Associated Press adds. "Starting later this year, the law requires insurers to accept children regardless of medical problems. The companies are worried that parents will wait until kids get sick to sign them up" (7/23).

There was no immediate comment from the insurance companies or the White House.