State Assembly approves measure on pre-existing conditions.

Pre-existing conditions protected

MADISON - In a surprise move early Thursday, Assembly Republicans sought to provide insurance for patients with pre-existing conditions to help address the potential repeal of Obamacare.

To pass the legislation on a 65-32 vote, GOP lawmakers took a health care bill that Democrats were attempting to pass and used an amendment to swap out the old bill with their own proposal. The Assembly acted after a marathon session that started Wednesday.

The proposal would prevent insurers from charging higher premiums to patients with preexisting conditions such as cancer or diabetes, but the patients would need to avoid a gap in their health coverage.

The Assembly vote gives Republicans in that house an answer to claims by Democrats that the GOP wants to strip coverage from people with high blood pressure or heart conditions. But it’s not clear yet whether it has the support needed to pass the state Senate.

Under the bill, the state Commissioner of Insurance Ted Nickel would also be required to propose a plan to help people with pre-existing conditions purchase health coverage. Nickel’s agency has gone on record in favor of returning Wisconsin to a high-risk pool model, which was used to insure high-cost patients with difficult medical conditions before the passage of the federal Affordable Care Act.

In a column Thursday in the Independent Journal Review, Nickel touted the state’s former Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Program.

“HIRSP provided Wisconsin consumers with peace of mind by providing high-quality, comprehensive coverage to over 20,000 of our friends and neighbors,” Nickel wrote.

The state’s Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan, known as HIRSP, was considered a model nationally at the time. But it worked only for people who could afford higher than average insurance rates in the first place.

It was paid for by a fee on health insurance sold in the state and premiums on patients.

Democrats objected to the Assembly GOP plan, saying that Republicans in Congress shouldn’t repeal the provisions in Obamacare that prohibit discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.

Obamacare repeal, known as the American Health Care Act, would allow states to opt out of the requirement that health insurers charge new customers with preexisting health problems the same rates as other people.

The Senate Republican version of the repeal would require insurers to charge the same rates but could allow states to waive some coverage requirements.