New Federal Rules Legalize Health Insurance Discrimination

[Jim Huber <jhuber@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

                       January 9, 2001


                       Washington, DC - (MCNW) Motorcyclists and others
                       involved in recreational activities could be left
without
                       vital health-care coverage as a result of new
regulations
                       released by a group of federal agencies, reports the
                       American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). Ironically, the
                       rules, written in response to federal legislation
banning
                       health-insurance discrimination, could end up having
                       precisely the opposite effect. 

                       The new regulations, issued jointly by three federal
                       agencies, are the culmination of a rulemaking process
                       that has dragged on for nearly five years since
                       Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and
                       Accountability Act of 1996. And, the AMA notes, the
final
                       version of the regulations appears to directly
contradict
                       the will of Congress in passing that law. 

                       The purpose of the original legislation was to protect
                       workers from discrimination in the health insurance they
receive through their employers. As
                       written by Congress, the bill would have prohibited
employers from denying health coverage
                       based on a worker's pre-existing medical conditions or
participation in legal recreational
                       activities. The official language in the Congressional
Record from that time noted that the law "is
                       intended to ensure, among other things, that individuals
are not excluded from health-care
                       coverage due to their participation in activities such
as motorcycling, snowmobiling, all-terrain
                       vehicle riding, horseback riding, skiing and other
similar activities." 

                       The AMA worked hard to get that language included in the
Congressional Record after
                       uncovering incidents in which employers were
discriminating against motorcyclists, leaving them
                       without coverage anytime they were involved in
recreational pursuits. The AMA noted that the
                       cases of discrimination it had uncovered extended
health-care protection to employees involved
                       in illegal activities, like driving a car while drunk,
but cut them off from many legal activities. 

                       Since the passage of the original bill, the AMA has
repeatedly called on the federal agencies
                       involved, the Internal Revenue Service, the Pension and
Welfare Benefits Administration, and the
                       Health Care Finance Administration, to release the
regulations that would govern enforcement of
                       the law. The agencies delayed the process until the
closing days of the Clinton administration,
                       finally releasing regulations on January 5. 

                       The new regulations at first state that an employer
cannot refuse health-care coverage to an
                       employee on the basis of participation in recreational
activities. But, they go on to say that
                       health-care benefits can be denied for injuries
sustained in connection with those recreational
                       activities. 

                       "To say that an employer can't deny health-care coverage
to motorcyclists, but can deny
                       coverage of any injury related to motorcycling makes
this entire law meaningless," said Ed
                       Moreland, the AMA's vice president of government
relations. "Instead of creating a law
                       specifically ending health-care discrimination, as
Congress intended, these agencies have
                       legalized discrimination. 

                       "These rules open the door to the elimination of health
coverage for all types of legal
                       recreational activities, from motorcycle riding to
running or walking. That's the exact opposite of
                       what Congress had in mind." 

                       The AMA is urging all motorcyclists, and those involved
in any other type of recreational activity,
                       to protest these regulations during a public-comment
period that remains open through April 9.
                       However, the AMA notes that by the time comments are
sent in, the new Bush administration will
                       be taking charge in Washington, meaning that different
officials may be in charge at these
                       agencies. 

                       "We believe that the change of administrations in
Washington gives us a chance to appeal this
                       arbitrary set of regulations," said Moreland. "We are in
a position to ask new administrators to
                       undo the mistakes of their predecessors." 

                       Comments can be sent to the following three agencies.
Comments sent by regular mail should
                       include a signed original and three copies. E-mail
comments do not require multiple copies. 

                       Internal Revenue Service PO Box 7604 Ben Franklin
Station Washington, DC 20044 

                       www.irs.gov/tax_regs/regslist.html 

                       U.S. Department of Labor Pension and Welfare Benefits
Administration Attn: Non-Discrimination
                       Comments 200 Constitution Ave. NW Room C-5331
Washington, DC 20210 

                       e-mail: HIPAA702@xxxxxxxxxxxx 

                       Health Care Financing Administration Department of
Health and Human Services Attn:
                       HCFA-2022-IFC PO Box 26688 Baltimore, MD 21207

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