Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed 8 health related bills into law, including a new measure that will require all individual health insurance policies to include coverage for contraception and pregnancy.
The new law takes effect on January 1st, 2011 and shall apply to health insurance policies issued on or after January 1st, 2011.
House Bill 1021, sponsored by Democratic Representatives Jerry Frangas and Beth McCann, requires all insurers to offer contraception and maternity coverage, except for women that wait and buy individual health insurance plans after they are already pregnant.
Colorado women that wait and buy individual health insurance coverage after they are already pregnant will have the pregnancy excluded as a pre-existing condition. Employer sponsored group health insurance plans can not exclude pregnancy as a pre-existing condition in Colorado.
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What about Obama’s Health Care Reform Act that states you cannot be denied coverage due to pre-existing coverage???
T. Grant
Good question! This provision for adults goes into effect on 1/1/2014. In the interim, pregnancy can be considered a pre-existing condition on individual health insurance plans in Colorado.
Children can no longer be denied for pre-existing conditions, starting on 9/23/10.
I am a single MALE, and was just told by my insurance carrier that my premium was going up because they are charging me for maternity coverage and that there’s nothing I can do about it. Seeing as how it is biologically impossible for me to get pregnant why on earth should I be charged for a service I will never ever ever ever EVER require?
It just seems to me that all this is doing is making it easier for Insurance companies to rip us off…
Hi John,
Yes, there is a new maternity mandate that Colorado’s government voted for and was signed into law by the govenor. Most insurance companies were opposed to it because the cost would have to be shared among all insureds. We would be happy to help you shop for other plans if you go to the Expert Quote page.
Here is something from the Division of Insurance that directly relates to your question: “Mandates require the costs of certain benefits to be spread across the entire pool of insured individuals. For instance, other mandates in the individual health insurance market require women to pay premiums for polices that cover prostate screenings and adults pay premiums for polices that cover childhood immunizations. These mandates only affect certain individuals, but the costs are spread across everyone with an individual policy.”
You may not be able to get pregnant yourself but you can sure be part of the process. Why should women have to carry the financial burden as well as the physical? Sounds selfish to me!
That was very well put and thank you for sharing. I think that was part of the idea behind the law, so the costs of bringing children into the world would be shared. Not everyone agrees with this type of cost sharing, but not everyone agrees on just about any public policy.
Pregnancy is not a disease, it’s an outcome of choice of having sexual activity.
Let men pay for their prostrate screenings. Let families pay for their kids immunizations. But don’t force others to pay for what you choose to do with your private areas.
This is outrageous…I am in my 50′s and being mandated to pay for maternity benefits! Repeal asap please!
“…The new law takes effect on January 1st, 2011 and shall apply to health insurance policies issued on or after January 1st, 2011…”
I’ve been with RMHP for 2 years, since 2009, and my rates just skyrocketed 40% because of all this. But the quote above indicates the bill should not apply to my plan. I don’t get it. Can anyone clarify this? thanks.
Hi Steve,
The law was subject to a new interpretation by the Colorado Division of Insurance, which we reported on here.
Regardless, a 40% increase is HUGE. I suggest letting us shop for some new plans for you to see if we can reduce your costs. We’ll do all the leg work for you with our free Expert Quote.
does this mandate include sterilization and the “morning after” abortion pill?
Good question. To the best of my knowledge the maternity mandate does not cover those.