Wis. Bankers Association to offer health coverage plans

New rules govern options for insurance

The Wisconsin Bankers Association will offer health plans to its members, potentially giving small, community banks that belong to the association additional options for health insurance.

The health plans will be offered under new rules issued by the Trump administration. The so-called association health plans are exempt from some of the restrictions imposed on health insurers by the Affordable Care Act.

The Wisconsin Bankers Association will contract with UnitedHealthcare for the health plans that it offers to its members.

Association health plans are expected to be an option for people who

are self-employed and small employers.

The state has more than 110 community banks, and many of them have fewer than 50 employees, said Rose Oswald Poels, president and chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

So far, more than 60 banks have asked for quotes for the health plans, which will be available on Jan. 1, Poels said.

The association, which has its own insurance brokerage, offered health plans through a trust before the Affordable Care Act.

The cost of the health plans will vary by bank and could depend on a bank’s past medical claims.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Wisconsin Property Taxpayers Inc. also plan to offer so-called association health plans.

The health plans in some cases could be less expensive, though how much less remains unclear.

“It’s going to be a niche,” J.P. Wieske, the state’s deputy commissioner of insurance, said in August. “But it’s going to be an important niche for certain groups.”

Some states are welcoming association plans while a few are requiring them to comply with the regulations imposed by the Affordable Care Act.

Other states are challenging the new rules allowing association plans in a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration.