Ohio lawmakers push to expand health insurance mandates

The Columbus Dispatch reports that members of the Ohio General Assembly are debating whether or not to mandate that health insurance plans cover autism, cancer patients enrolled in clinical trials, diabetes, and other diseases and disorders (source: "Lawmakers push to cover autism in health plans," Sept. 6, 2007).

Delaware Republican Rep. Jon Peterson is pushing to require coverage for autism, saying this is a "quality of life" issue which will also keep people from becoming dependent on Medicaid. Democratic Rep. Ted Celeste is co-sponsoring the autism bill. Sen. Steve Stivers, chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee, is working with House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty to provide coverage for cancer patients enrolled in clinical trials, while Beatty, along with Rep. Michelle G. Schneider, R-Cincinnati, and Sen. Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green, are pushing for mandated coverage of diabetes.

Senator Stivers said he doesn't expect too much movement on these insurance mandate bills because they might "raise the price of insurance and cause a lot of people to lose insurance." The fear of these mandates increasing the costs of insurance were shared by Ty Pine, legislative director for the National Federation of Independent Business/Ohio, a small-businesses advocacy group.

According to the Dispatch article, among the bills introduced this year to mandate coverage of different diseases and disorders are

• Senate Bill 99/House Bill 98: Would require health-care policies to cover equipment, medication and treatment of diabetes. Sponsors: Rep. Michelle G. Schneider, R-Cincinnati; House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus; and Sen. Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green.
• S.B. 115: Would require health insurers to provide coverage for dependent children until age 30 if the child's employer did not offer health coverage and the child was a resident of Ohio or a full-time college student. Sponsor: Sen. Steve Stivers, R-Columbus.
• S.B. 186/H.B. 268: Would require that health-care plans cover routine patient care associated with cancer clinic trials. Sponsors: Stivers and Beatty.
• H.B. 170: Would require that health-care plans offer coverage for autism. Sponsors: Reps. Jon Peterson, R-Delaware, and Ted Celeste, D-Grandview Heights.
• H.B. 294: Would require health plans to provide coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder. Sponsor: Celeste.