Brief(1)
H.B. 2705 would amend several statutes concerning insurance as those statutes incorporated the 1997 Kassebaum-Kennedy health insurance changes. The bill would:
rewrite the statute which establishes who is eligible for participation in the Kansas Uninsurable Health Insurance Plan (high risk pool) and makes eligible persons who were previously covered in a high risk pool of another state;
for small and large groups, add the definition of "preexisting conditions exclusion" from the federal act not previously incorporated into the Kansas statutes and clarify that the exclusion period does not exceed 90 days following the date of enrollment for conditions identified in the 90 days prior to the effective date of enrollment (not coverage);
for small and large groups, count as creditable coverage toward any preexisting condition, the time a child would spend in a state health insurance program for children established pursuant to federal law (Title XXI);
remove from the statutes references to the Small Employer Health Care Plan, its Board of Directors, and the Small Employer Health Reinsurance Program as well as references to "basic" and "standard" health plans; and
make other technical changes as necessitated by the redrafting of K.S.A. 40-2209, the basic statute governing group health insurance.
Background
H.B. 2705 was requested by the Insurance Commissioner whose representative explained that the changes proposed by the bill arise from a review of the new Kassebaum-Kennedy provisions and from technical corrections suggested by the Office of the Revisor of Statutes.
The fiscal note on H.B. 2705 indicates the bill would have no fiscal effect.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.