LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

With a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act also known as the federal health care reform law expected later this month, Humana Inc. (HUM) issued the following statement:

Humana has long said that all Americans deserve affordable, quality health care and that our nation needs a health care system that works for everyone. Regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the federal health care reform law, Humana is committed to keeping in place important patient protections contained in the law, including health care reforms restrictions on lifetime limits, rescission standards, appeals and external review processes, coverage for dependents on family plans to age 26, and preventive services with no cost sharing.

Humana believes its health plan members should have the peace of mind of knowing the company embraces and will maintain these common-sense provisions that add stability and security to health care coverage.

Specifically, Humana will maintain these health care reform provisions:

Humanas pledge to preserve these protections applies to its fully insured commercial health insurance policies. The company will also work with its employer clients that self-insure their health benefits to emphasize the importance of the continuity of policies and coverage.

About Humana

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is a leading health care company that offers a wide range of insurance products and health and wellness services that incorporate an integrated approach to lifelong well-being. By leveraging the strengths of its core businesses, Humana believes it can better explore opportunities for existing and emerging adjacencies in health care that can further enhance wellness opportunities for the millions of people across the nation with whom the company has relationships.

More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the companys web site at http://www.humana.com, including copies of:

See the article here:

Humana to Voluntarily Preserve Key Health Care Reform Protections

UnitedHealthcare and Humana, two of the nation’s largest health insurance companies, will keep major and popular parts of President Obama’s health care initiative regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court rules.

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Health Insurers Will Keep Parts of 'Obamacare,' Regardless of Court Ruling

UnitedHealthcare, the nation's largest health care insurer, commits to keeping some key mandates regardless of Supreme Court's impending ruling on health reform.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The nation's largest health insurer promises to continue offering some key mandates of health care reform -- such as coverage of adult dependents up to age 26 -- regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the health care law.

The Supreme Court, which is currently debating health care reform, is expected to announce its ruling later this month. Industry experts say the Court could uphold the law, overturn the law completely or overturn just some provisions of the law.

Ahead of the Court's decision, UnitedHealth Group (UNH, Fortune 500) said it will uphold several mandated provisions that have already gone into effect since health reform passed in 2010.

Among them, the insurer said it won't charge co-pays for preventive services, won't impose lifetime dollar limits on members' policies and will allow members to add their adult children up to age 26 to their plans.

The company -- which covers 38 million people -- also said it won't rescind insurance coverage of individuals who become ill, except in cases of fraud.

"The protections promote broader access to quality care and contribute to helping control rising health care costs," Stephen Hemsley, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, said in a statement.

"These provisions make sense for the people we serve and it is important to ensure they know these provisions will continue," he said.

UnitedHealthcare's decision, though, does not apply to large employers that self-insure and use the company only to manage their health plans. Most Americans are insured in such plans. In those cases, it's up to the employer whether to abide by the mandates.

Also, UnitedHealthcare did not commit yet to standing by another key mandate which has gone into effect -- offering coverage for children up to age 19 with pre-existing conditions.

Original post:

UnitedHealthcare to keep some health care mandates

by Nina Totenberg, National Public Radio

June 11, 2012

All of Washington is breathlessly awaiting the Supreme Court's imminent decision on the Obama health care overhaul. Rumors circulate almost daily that the decision is ready for release. As usual, those rumors are perpetrated by people who know nothing, but the decision is expected by the end of this month.

The near hysteria is partially about politics: Congressional Republicans hate the bill, and some see President Obama's chance at a second term hinged to the fate of the law. But constitutional scholars know there is much more at stake here than an individual election. Just how much is illustrated by the legal history of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.

It gives Congress the power to "regulate commerce ... among the several States," and it authorizes Congress to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper" for achieving that goal. The Founding Fathers' purpose was to put an end to the interstate rivalries that balkanized the country after the American Revolution. But the words of the Commerce Clause are pretty general, and it is the Supreme Court that for more than 200 years has interpreted what they mean.

Early Decision: Broad Power

The court's first major Commerce Clause decision came in the 1824. The great Chief Justice John Marshall, who was himself one of the Founding Fathers, wrote in Gibbons v. Ogden that the Commerce Clause gives Congress broad power to regulate commerce and that this power is mainly limited by the power of the people to deny their representatives re-election if they don't like what Congress does.

The decision infuriated the likes of Thomas Jefferson, who viewed federal power as far more limited under the Constitution, but the ruling stood as the guiding light on commerce questions for about 70 years.

A Country Transformed

The next landmark case came in 1895, during the rise of great national corporations and concentrations of wealth. When the U.S. government, using the antitrust law, sought to block the leading sugar refining company from acquiring 98 percent control of the industry, the company fought back and won. In U.S. v. E.C. Knight Co., the Supreme Court ruled that since sugar refining took place before shipments of the product crossed state lines, Congress was powerless to regulate the industry.

Excerpt from:

Health care decision hinges on crucial commerce clause

Health care costs are weighing on Americans' minds -- and sapping their budgets, according to a new survey that shows that within the last year, more than half of people needing medical care didn't get it because of the expense.

Costs led 58 percent of people to put off or go without health care they needed in the previous 12 months, a increase from 50 percent last August, says a survey released Monday by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit research organization based in Menlo Park, Calif. Americans skipped doctor and dentist visits, didn't receive diagnostic tests, didn't take their medicines, cut pills in half or took other steps to save money that could make them less healthy, the survey found. Twenty-six percent of Americans reported they or a family member had difficulty paying medical bills, the same percentage as last August.

Even many who didn't experience difficulties with health care costs say they're concerned they might, the foundation reports: "While substantial shares of Americans report problems paying for care, even larger shares report they are worried about being able to afford health care and maintain insurance coverage." Sixty-four percent of those surveyed were concerned about their health care costs rising, according to the survey, which the foundation conducted last month. The survey's overall margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Americans spent $2.6 trillion on health care in 2010, a tenfold increase since 1980, according to federal government figures. Higher prices for medical procedures, tests, drugs and other health care goods and services are increasingly burdensome on American households, contributing to higher health insurance premiums and fostering a population of uninsured people that's approaching 50 million. That money isn't buying Americans higher-quality care than is available in other rich countries, either.

An American family of four with job-based health insurance will spend more than $20,000 on premiums, deductibles, co-payments and other expenses this year, according to a recent analysis by Milliman, a firm that consults with companies about employee benefits.

Not surprisingly, the uninsured are worse off than those who have health insurance, the Kaiser Family Foundation survey shows. Almost half of the uninsured, 47 percent, reported difficulties covering their medical expenses and 81 percent of them said they'd put off health care they needed. But having health insurance doesn't guarantee access to affordable health care: 23 percent of people less than 65 years old who have health insurance said they faced trouble paying medical bills and 55 percent said they didn't get health care they needed because of cost.

A large share of those who need health care the most reported these difficulties. Forty-five percent of people who said they were in fair or poor health had problems with medical bills, compared to 29 percent of individuals in good health and 19 percent of those in excellent or very good health. Among the sickest people, 77 percent said they didn't receive necessary treatments.

President Barack Obama's health care reform law contains provisions designed to extend health coverage to more than 30 million people who have none today, including people who currently can't obtain health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. The Supreme Court is expected rule this month on whether the law is constitutional. Justices could leave the law in place, eliminate the individual mandate that most people must obtain health coverage and other provisions or invalidate the whole thing.

Related on HuffPost:

Read the rest here:

Health Care Costs Caused More Americans To Go Without Needed Care Last Year: Survey

(CBS News) The Supreme Court this month could overturn all or parts of President Obama's landmark 2010 health care overhaul -- but even so, at least one major health insurer plans to voluntarily keep in place some of the reforms.

UnitedHealthcare on Monday announced that regardless of the court's decision, it will continue to offer some consumer protections and services that the law mandated: Allowing children up to the age of 26 to remain on their parents' health plan, coverage of preventive health services without co-pays, the elimination of lifetime dollar limits on policies, the elimination of rescissions (or retroactive termination of coverage), and the implementation of a clear appeals process.

The decision will ensure that a large swath of consumers will continue to benefit from some of the more popular elements of Mr. Obama's controversial law -- UnitedHealthcare serves more than 38 million people, making it one of the nation's largest insurers.

It could also alter the political fallout from the high court's decision. Should the Supreme Court reject Mr. Obama's law, the president could point to UnitedHealthcare's announcement to validate his policy agenda. However, should the court strike down the law, the practical impact could be less clear to voters, making the issue less of a galvanizing force for the left.

The Supreme Court heard arguments over the law's constitutionality in March, and the court is expected to hand down its decision between now and June 28.

Supreme Court to rule soon on health care, immigration; what happens next? Poll: Most want Supreme Court to overturn individual health care mandate Poll: Most think politics will influence Supreme Court health care decision

Stephen Hemsley, president and CEO of UnitedHealth Group, said in a statement his company is keeping the provisions in place because they "are compatible with our mission."

"The protections we are voluntarily extending are good for people's health, promote broader access to quality care and contribute to helping control rising health care costs," he said. "These provisions make sense for the people we serve, and it is important to ensure they know these provisions will continue."

The court's rulings and the consequences are hard to know at this point. The one certainty is that the court's consideration of the case is putting Mr. Obama's controversial health care law back in the spotlight squarely in the middle of the 2012 presidential race -- a move sure to rekindle the partisan passion that in part drove Democratic voters in 2008 and Republican voters in 2010.

A CBS News/New York Times poll released last week reveals that nearly seven in 10 Americans want the Supreme Court to overturn either all or President Obama's health care law or strike down just the individual mandate.

Continued here:

UnitedHealthcare to keep parts of health reforms