News
By Michelle Davis
|
February 14, 2011
A proposed regulation announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would require that student health insurance plans provided through universities and colleges comply with certain provisions in the Affordable Care Act that was signed into law last March.
Although the nation's colleges and universities are currently able to exempt themselves from the requirements of the Act by classifying student health insurance plans as limited benefit plans, the proposed regulation would ensure that students obtaining health insurance coverage through their school receive the same protections and rights as other Americans under the Affordable Care Act, an HHS news release stated.
Under the regulation, insurance companies would no longer be able to drop the coverage of a student because of an unintentional mistake on an application, impose lifetime dollar limits on the amount spent on health benefits in student health plans or deny or exclude coverage for students under age 19 for reasons of a pre-existing condition.