This morning, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) held a public hearing to consider the permanent adoption of an emergency rule which repeals previous improvements that were made relating to readability of and access to private insurance policies. Adoption of this rule would be a step backwards for consumer initiatives in private insurance. Although the hearing has been held, OCI is taking public comment on the proposed rule until May 13th.

On February 9, 2011, Insurance Commissioner Ted Nickel issued an emergency rule suspending improvements made in fall 2010 to readability and access electronically to private health plans. These simple changes, which are valuable to consumers and advocates in determining the most appropriate health insurance for their needs, were deemed too expensive for health insurance companies to implement. However, health insurance industries typically change their policies often, and readability is already an issue that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is working towards.  ABC for Health provides a full summary of the changes here, including a description of the long process for developing the readability standards.

OCI will be accepting public comments on this proposal through May 13th at 4pm. Please send comments to Julie Walsh at julie.walsh@wi.gov or PO Box 7873, Madison, WI 53707-7873.

Sara Eskrich