Ga. insurance commissioner expects bill to repeal health mandates
By Walter C. Jones Morris News Service – updated Thursday, January 10, 2013 – 10:52pm
ATLANTA – Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens predicted Thursday that legislation would repeal all of the required health coverage not mandated by federal health reform, an issue that would likely lead to a heated battle in the General Assembly when it convenes next week.
Hudgens also revealed that one of the Republicans’ answers to ObamaCare — cross-state insurance policies — hasn’t worked.
Democrats, advocates for women, the disabled, and patients with chronic conditions have waged determined campaigns in recent years to pass laws in Georgia that mandate specific health coverage such as mammograms and mental-health treatment. They’ve been opposed by employer groups like the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, which argues that the rising premiums needed to include such mandated coverage would limit money for hiring workers.
Georgia has 45 mandates, and some are more generous to consumers than the list of “essential health benefits” the federal law requires.
Hudgens made his prediction during a conference of health advocates hosted by Georgians for a Healthy Future based on his 14 years in the General Assembly before his election as commissioner in 2010.
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