Private Insurance

To increase the coverage of assistive technology through private insurance.

Private Insurance and AT Guide

Overview

Statutory Language and Reports

• Minnesota - Disclosure of criteria for coverage decisions
• Kansas - Imposes minimum on DME coverage
• Arkansas - Findings of study of AT insurance coverage in state

Consumer Resources

• AT Advocate Part 1 - Practical guide on obtaining AT/DME through private insurance health plans.
• AT Advocate Part 2 - More from the Practical Guide
• Insurance Departments' Consumer Complaints Contacts - State-by-state listing of consumer complaint contacts.
• How to Write a Letter of Medical Necessity - Discusses components of letter

Bibliography

• Employee Health Plans and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA): A brief introduction for AT Advocates
• Workers' Compensation: An Old Model Revisited
• Medicaid and Assistive Technology: Where are We Headed

Links to Private Insurance Policy Resources

• National Association of Insurance Commissioners
• National Conference of Insurance Legislators
• National Association for Support of Long-Term Care
• Families USA

Private Insurance

• Kaiser-Permanente HMO Settles Landmark Agreement
  Complaint
  Settlement Agreement
  The nation's largest nonprofit H.M.O. agreed in April 2001 to revamp all its California health centers and policies to ensure that people with disabilities have access to the full range of health care. The agreement, filed in 2000 against the HMO, will settle a class-action lawsuit, the first of its kind in the nation, on behalf of all its California members with disabilities. The lawsuit argued that Kaiser discriminated against patients with disabilities by giving them inferior medical care. Part of the problem, the lawsuit said, is inaccessible medical equipment, like examination tables that do not lower and scales and mammography machines that cannot be used by people in wheelchairs.
  
  
• A Progressive Path Toward Universal Health Coverage
  In this paper, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) sketches a plan to give all Americans access to health insurance and medical care. The proposal uses government financing and oversight to ensure affordability and access, but it relies on private markets and competition to spark innovation and restrain costs. The proposal is designed to appeal to both sides of the closely divided political spectrum.
  Press Release on this PPI Paper
  
  

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