|
September 12, 2005
DISB Receives Grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
(Washington, DC) The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) has received a $150,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the impact of proposed District health insurance legislation on access to health insurance by self-employed persons and those who work for small employers.
The grant funds will be used to hire an independent actuarial firm to study the Equal Access to Health Insurance bill. Specifically, the firm will compare the proposed premium structures with current ones, the impact of the plan on access to health insurance coverage, the costs of expanding coverage, the impact of more and varied product offerings in the health insurance market, the fiscal impact of including D.C. Government employees in the new program and other issues raised by stakeholders. The study will enable the District to determine whether the innovative concepts contained in the Equal Access to Health Insurance bill are workable.
The Equal Access to Health Insurance bill is designed to open the D.C. Government employees' health benefit plan to individuals who reside, work or attend an institution of higher education in the District of Columbia and their dependents.
"Our current health insurance system discriminates against people who do not work for large employers," said DC Commissioner of Insurance, Securities and Banking Lawrence H. Mirel. "This legislation is designed to level the playing field by creating one large group that anyone who lives, works or goes to school in Washington can belong to. They would all have access to a menu of different plans and would pay standard rates, regardless of their health history."
The Equal Access to Health Insurance bill will also establish a new District-wide health reinsurance pool to spread the expenses associated with high-cost cases across all carriers in the DC market.
The actuarial firm is expected to be selected eight to ten weeks after the grant funding is received by DISB. The report is due by mid-January 2006.
For more information on this subject, please contact Health Insurance Policy Advisor Kathy Willis, Esq., by telephone at (202) 442-7758 or by email.
About DISB
The DC Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) has two overall missions: to provide fair, efficient, and fast regulatory supervision of financial service activities for the protection of the people of the District of Columbia; and to create conditions that will attract and retain national and international insurance, securities, banking and other financial services businesses to the District.
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. |
