Three Big Insurers To Keep Popular Health Law Provisions Regardless of How Court Rules

Led by UnitedHealth Group Inc., three major U.S. insurers on Monday announced plans to preserve one of the most popular provisions of the health care law no matter how the Supreme Court rules this month.

United, Humana and Aetna all said they would continue to allow young adults to remain on their parents’ policies until they reach age 26, a provision that consistently has performed well in public opinion polls. They also promise to fully cover some preventive care provisions without requiring co-payments and to maintain easy-to-navigate appeals processes for policyholders dissatisfied with a claims determination.

But other major U.S. insurance companies, including Cigna and Wellpoint, as well as the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said it will wait to see what the high court does before committing to maintaining any of the consumer protections in the health overhaul law.

However, United, Humana and Aetna said they would not maintain the overhaul’s requirement that they insure children up to age 19 with pre-existing conditions. Nor did they say they would maintain the requirement that bans an annual limit on the amount of coverage a policyholder is eligible for, although they did say they don’t have lifetime maximums on coverage. They also didn’t address any other changes that will not take be required when the law fully takes effect in 2014, such as bans on refusing to insure adults with pre-existing illnesses.