Top 3 Healthcare Reform Changes Insurers Want Now

3.Give states two years to transition to essential health benefits.
States have already been submitting their plans for what will be covered in addition to the list of 10 benefits mandated by PPACA.

The problem, says Fox, "is that creates a complexity for large companies, multi-state companies, where before you had a health plan, now you might need—if you're dealing in all 50 states—you might need 50 health plans for each state.

Fox also theorizes that if benefits are too complex or high in a state, then health plans will leave and reduce competition, leading to again, higher costs passed on to consumers. AHIP advocated for a two-year transition period so that states could have time to craft an EHB package that is affordable for everyone.

In a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Dan Durham, AHIP's executive vice president for policy and regulatory affairs, wrote, "If states select a benchmark plan that features more comprehensive and extensive benefits than is typically covered under small group plans today, many small businesses and families would be unable to afford coverage and could be priced out of the marketplace."