New article on residency requirements for state high-risk pools
Kevin Lucia M.H.P., J.D., Assistant Research Professor at Georgetown University, has co-authored an article in the Winter 2006 issue of the Journal of Insurance Regulation (www.naic.org/store_jir.htm).
Imposition of Durational Residency Requirements by State High-Risk Pools: Constitutional Considerations
Kevin Lucia, M.H.P., J.D.; Susanne Addy, J.D.
Currently, 32 states maintain high-risk pools offering individual health insurance to residents that are otherwise medically uninsurable in the private health insurance market. In many of these states, applicants are required to have resided in the state for a specific period of time, called a “durational residency requirement,” before they can apply for coverage. After reviewing how many states impose a durational residency requirement on new applicants and why, this article discusses the constitutionality of these requirements in light of the 14th Amendment right to travel as interpreted by relevant U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
May 29th, 2007 at 12:06 am
First of all I would like to say as someone who sells health insurance for a living I am most grateful for all of the incredibly detailed and valuable information available at Health Insurance Info. Most people have no idea that they could easily end up without health insurance even if they have it through their present employer.
If one has never been sick before, it is difficult to imagine the phenomenology of sickness. It doesn’t help either that most people would probably prefer to think about something else anyway, but the fact remains: if you are severly injured are fall critically ill, you probably won’t be able to work. If you aren’t able to work, unless you have been a dutiful saver over the years (most Americans are not), you will struggle to pay health insurance premiums if they’re available to you at all.
This is a rather tragic circumstance because so many otherwise careful, hardworking, responsible people are caught in this trap, and I encounter it everyday. Just because I sell individual health insurance, however, does not mean that I am insensitive to this. I hope that there is health insurance legislative reform. I hope that one day all Americans are covered by some form of health insurance. In one of the richest countries on the planet, this is only right.
The idea of challenging the durational residency requirement on Constitutional grounds is interesting. If the challenge succeeds, however, I wonder if the states that offer guaranteed issue coverage will become inundated from people of other states seeking health insurance. I wonder how long these programs will then exist as they currently operate.