Maine Disability Alerts - Ask HCIFS Committee to Support LD 1798

Dear Friends of Mainers with Disabilities,
Public hearing is Tuesday, 1/11, on LD 1798 to allow dependents who are adults with disabilities to stay on parent health insurance policy!
The Affordable Care Act allows young adults to stay on their parents’ private health insurance policy until at least age 26. Two-thirds of states *also* require such policies to allow dependents who are adults with disabilities to stay on the parents’ policy without age limit (at least until the parent ages onto Medicare). And large employers with self-funded policies frequently offer such coverage for dependents who are adults with disabilities.
LD 1798 would have Maine join the states that require private health insurance covering family members to also offer coverage to dependents who are adults with disabilities if they’re unable to sustain themselves through employment. See https://legislature.maine.gov/LawMakerWeb/summary.asp?ID=280082107 with bill text at http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=HP1339&item=1&snum=130
Although private health insurance wouldn’t be expected to cover everything in the Section 21/29/18/20 waivers, LD 1798 could still help address the workforce and wait list crises. Private health insurance typically reimburses providers at much higher rates than MaineCare does, so it might make some services (behavioral consult, psy consult, speech-language path, for example) more accessible. This could be helpful for people on wait lists and people who are on the 21/29/18/20 waivers but who can’t get all their health care needs met under MaineCare.
Since Section 29 doesn’t currently include behavioral consult, LD 1798 could also be helpful for some Section 29 recipients if they meet health insurance requirements for needing behavioral consult.
How to testify:
1.      Go to https://www.mainelegislature.org/testimony/
2.      Click on “Public Hearing”
3.      “Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services” from the “Choose a committee” pull-down (*NOT* the HHS Committee)
4.      “Jan 11 2022 10:00 AM” from the “Choose date” pull-down
5.      Select “LD 1798 - An Act To Ensure Health Insurance Coverage for Certain Adults with Disabilities”
6.      You can submit written testimony and/or sign up to receive a zoom link to testify “in person” virtually


thank you!