Protection for pre-existing health conditions passes in Nevada
CARSON CITY — Nevada stands to become the fifth state to fully incorporate the federal Affordable Care Act’s protections for patients with pre-existing conditions into state law after unanimous passage of a bill Tuesday in the state Senate.
Assembly Bill 170, which also sets up a procedure to help health care consumers navigate and resolve problems with insurers, was rewritten to incorporate safeguards that were originally the basis of a different Senate bill that passed earlier.
The Assembly version passed on April 23 by a vote of 40-1, with Assemblywoman Robin Titus, R-Wellington, voting no. With Senate passage Tuesday, it now heads to the governor for his signature. Sen. Julia Ratti, D-Sparks, who sponsored the earlier Senate bill and carried the Assembly rewrite on the floor Tuesday, called its passage a “huge deal” amid uncertainty over the ACA’s future.
The Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare, prohibits insurance companies from charging more or refusing coverage to patients with existing health problems that put them at higher risk to insure, such as cancer or diabetes. Nevada, among other states, wants to enshrine its patient protections in state law amid lawsuits that seek to dismantle or kill the federal law. A 2018 lawsuit brought by Texas and 19 other states challenged an underlying component of the ACA, the tax penalty for individuals who don’t obtain health insurance.
Read more: https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/2019-legislature/protection-for-pre-existing-health-conditions-passes-in-nevada-1658367/