By Jim McLean
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, March 19
A package of health reform initiatives set for approval Tuesday by the Kansas Health Policy Authority no longer includes a proposal to extend the period that parents can cover dependent children on their health insurance policies.
The Health for All Kansans Steering Committee, which includes members of the KHPA board, legislators and other state officials, dropped the proposal from a list of reform initiatives it wants legislators to approve before the close of the 2007 session.
The proposal, similar to Senate Bill 243, would allow parents to cover their dependant children until they are age 25. The current cut-off age is 23. SB 243 would have extended coverage to age 26.
“I know there are some very powerful interests that are opposed to it,” said Joe Tilghman, chairman of the steering committee and member of the KHPA board.
“Insurance providers have some concerns.”
A representative of Kansas Blue Cross Blue Shield testified at an earlier legislative hearing that the proposal could increase premium costs and might cause employers to stop offering dependant coverage.
Republican Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger said small businesses also had concerns about the proposal.
Ned Holland, a human relations executive for EMBARQ, a Kansas City-based telecommunications company, was the only member of the steering committee to publicly question the decision to drop it from the list of recommendations.
“I”ve got to tell you that responsible employers already do that. I do that,” Holland said.
Early in the legislative session the proposal seemed to be gathering momentum as policymakers searched for ways to reduce the number of young adults who are uninsured.
Approximately 138,000 of the estimated 300,000 Kansans who lack health insurance are between the ages of 18 and 34.
Tilghman said the health policy authority and legislative committees would continue to study the dependant coverage idea. He said it could resurface as part of the health policy authority”s “long-term” reform plan, which is expected to be finished by November.
Senate Bill 243 was endorsed by the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee on Feb. 21. It was then routed through a so-called exempt committee to keep it alive past a legislative deadline, but has yet to be brought to a vote on the Senate floor.
-Jim McLean is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at
jmclean@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 110.