New insurance mandates take effect in Wisconsin

Young adults can stay on their parents' insurance longer, and birth control costs must be covered for those looking to avoid having any kids at all, under new laws that take effect Friday in Wisconsin.

Also starting in the new year, state workers and employees at the University of Wisconsin can receive domestic partner health insurance and other benefits. The new mandate that insurance plans cover autism will take effect for most on Friday when group policies are renewed. That law change started in November, but most policy holders won't start paying for it until now.

The new insurance mandates were approved by the Democratic-controlled Legislature and Gov. Jim Doyle this year. Advocates who pushed for requiring birth control and autism coverage argued it was over due, even though the new mandates are expected to increase costs for all policy holders.

'It's another year in the march toward increasing health insurance premiums,' said J.P. Wieske, director of state affairs for the Council for Affordable Health Insurance, a national advocacy group whose membership includes insurers, health care providers, actuaries and insurance brokers.

No one seems to know how much the changes will cost. Neither the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner nor the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans, which represents 18 member health plans across the state, has estimates.

'Every indication is that the mandates have increased costs and cost expectations will be higher for 2010,' said Phil Dougherty, senior executive officer of the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans.

The association didn't oppose any of the changes but instead worked with the governor and state lawmakers on ensuring that the laws do what was intended, Dougherty said.

There was opposition from anti-abortion and Catholic groups to requiring contraceptives to be covered under health insurance policies. Opponents argued that birth control is not medically necessary and insurance companies should not be forced to pay for what is a personal decision.

The Wisconsin Catholic Conference is lobbying lawmakers to provide an exemption for religious organizations.

'The law does not give adequate deference to our religious values and our religious liberties,' said John Huebscher, executive director of the conference. 'It would force dioceses and other Catholic organizations that buy insurance to pay for something they object to.'

Three of the state's five Catholic dioceses purchase private health insurance, which would be required to include contraceptive coverage, he said. However, their policies aren't up for renewal until later in 2010, so the hope is the Legislature will provide for the exemption before then.

Those three dioceses in Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay insure about 6,000 clergy, staff and other employees, Huebscher said. The other two in La Crosse and Superior are self-insured and not bound by the law, he said.

Planned Parenthood opposes any exemptions because that will limit women's access to birth control, said the group's legal and policy analyst Nicole Safar.

'An exemption really defeats the purpose,' she said.

Mandating birth control coverage will dramatically increase its access, Safar said. She cited a 2001 report by the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner that showed about one in five of the most popular insurance plans with prescription drug coverage in Wisconsin did not cover contraceptives.

Wisconsin is joining 24 other states that already require birth control to be covered, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Two additional states require insurance companies to offer contraceptive coverage as an option to employees, but it can be declined.

Federal law requires insurance coverage of contraceptives for federal employees.

Under another insurance change taking effect in Wisconsin, adults up to age 27 could remain on their parents health insurance plans unless they have access to cheaper plans through their employers.

Current law does not address how long a child can remain on their parent's coverage, leaving it up to individual insurers to decide.

Supporters of increasing the age, including Doyle and the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans, said the law will help young people who either can't afford health insurance when they first start working or aren't offered it.

There were no estimates from the state or the insurance industry as to how many people may be affected.

To qualify, the young adults have to be single, not eligible for insurance through their employer, or be able to get on their parents' plan for less money than through their work.

About 20 states require insurance companies to offer parents coverage of adult children, according to the Council for Affordable Health Insurance.

The domestic partner benefits are being extended to unmarried partners of state employees who live together, share expenses and meet other requirements. It is open to unmarried couples of the opposite sex as well as same-sex couples.

As of Tuesday, 710 people and 57 dependents have signed up for the health insurance, according to the Department of Employee Trust Funds. Another 300 state workers have signed affidavits saying that they qualify for the benefits, indicating that they may sign up later.

Another 179 university employees added a domestic partner to their health insurance as of Dec. 21.

The health insurance benefit is separate from other rights that all same-sex couples became eligible for in the state starting in August. Under that law, couples had to sign a registry in order to receive a host of rights already afforded married couples, including hospital visitation and inheritance.