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February 15, 2002 at 07:00 PM
NU Online News Service, Feb. 15, 10:03 a.m. – Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif., is supporting Senate Bill 1411, a California state bill that would prohibit health plans from charging holders of individual health insurance policies higher co-pays for maternity services than for other hospital services.
The bill was introduced by state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Francisco, chair of the Senate Insurance Committee.
Kaiser, a nonprofit health maintenance organization with 6.1 million members in California, alleges that, up until a month ago, it was the only major carrier in the state that did not charge a hospital maternity services co-pay for holders of individual health coverage.
That policy put Kaiser at a competitive disadvantage when it went up against health plans that charged big co-pays for maternity services, the company says.
