Election Day is right around the corner, which means we’re seeing nonstop political ads on TV.
This week, Terri LeGrand, the Democratic candidate for North Carolina’s 31st Senate District started running an ad that can only be described – in the most generous terms – as blatantly false.
In it, LeGrand claims that her opponent, Senator Joyce Krawiec wants to let insurance companies “slash coverage for pre-existing conditions” and “cancer treatments.”
The source of these claims is Krawiec’s sponsorship of Senate Bill 86, or the bipartisan Small Business Health Care Act, which passed overwhelmingly during the last legislative session.
Senate Bill 86 established standards for Association Health Plans (AHP) so that small businesses could take advantage of the same health insurance benefits as large corporations.
Through an AHP, small businesses can join with other similar businesses to purchase group health insurance coverage for their employees at a lower cost.
Senate Bill 86 ensures certain guardrails are in place to protect people. For example, the associations have to be real organizations in business for five or more years and formed around a common profession or trade. They can’t be some fly-by-night cockamamie group put together just to sell junk health insurance plans.
So, what about the claims that Senate Bill 86 would slash coverage for “pre-existing conditions” and “cancer treatments?”
100 percent untrue.
You can read the bill for yourself. Page 3, 58-50A-30. Nondiscrimination. It says clearly that no association can condition eligibility of coverage on someone’s health status, claims experience or medical condition.
And that “No limitations shall be based on pre-existing conditions.”
The bill goes on to say that neither insurers nor associations can charge greater premiums to employees based on their health status.
The truth is Senate Bill 86 puts consumer protections in place so that small businesses can offer more affordable health insurance to their employees.
The suggestion that this bipartisan legislation cuts coverage for people with cancer or pre-existing conditions is totally false.
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