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03/28/2024 10:15 AM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20210&cosponId=35988
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House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: July 14, 2021 09:02 AM
From: Representative Brett R. Miller
To: All House members
Subject: Notification Requirements for Older Adult Health Insurance Changes
 
In the near future, I will introduce legislation to amend Title 40 (Insurance) to keep Power of Attorneys (POA) informed of important healthcare insurance decisions being made by the older adults who they represent in important life decisions. This bill will require insurers to notify the older adult’s POA of any changes to an older adult's health insurance policy. 
 
Recently, I was contacted by a constituent who was serving as her mother's POA. The daughter told me the story of her mom, who though having mild forgetfulness, was still capable of living independently. The daughter would carefully research Medicare Advantage plans before helping her mom choose the plan that best met her mother’s needs. Her mother subsequently enrolled in another plan without consulting or informing her daughter. This became a serious problem when her mother needed medical care and the hospital informed them that the original insurance plan had been cancelled and the new plan did not have the coverage the former one did. This, in turn, led to significantly higher medical bills. This scenario could easily have been avoided if her daughter, as her mother's POA, had simply been informed of the health insurance changes that were made.
 
Specifically, this legislation will require an insurer to ask the older adult if he/she has a POA and to ask for the POA's contact information. The insurer then must notify the POA if the person enrolls in or cancels a health insurance policy. If the POA is notified, the older adult has the right to rescind enrollment in the health insurance policy without penalty. The bill will also provide for the relief of these duties by the insurer if there is a revocation of the POA. Finally, the bill provides the insurer with a good faith defense for following the requirements of this bill.
 
Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation to help seniors and their POA's work together to make fully informed healthcare decisions that meet the specific older adult's insurance needs.   
 



Introduced as HB1899