Watered-Down Prosthetic Parity Bill Clears Senate

03.11.2010 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Insurance companies in Utah would soon be required to cover prosthetic limbs, under a bill that’s passed both the Utah House and Senate. The Senate changed the bill so insurance companies can charge more for plans that include prosthetic coverage. But even this watered down version of the bill garnered one dissenting vote from Republican Senator Steve Urquhart.

“A mandate is a mandate is a mandate,” said Urquhart.  “They’re not healthy for insurance overall, they hurt people’s ability to get insurance while they help a select group that comes up here and tells legitimate and very sad stories.”

Mandates for the insurance industry are traditionally unpopular at the State Capitol. In fact, the bill failed in two previous legislative sessions.

Senator John Valentine said the bill adds important coverage for costly prosthetic limbs, but promotes choice in health insurance options.

“So instead of having a mandate that everybody has to have this coverage, House Bill 66, the second substitute says, you must have a policy that offers this coverage and you charge for that policy,” said the Republican senator.

In the previous version of the bill, the increased cost of covering prosthetic limbs would have been spread across all insurance plans. The bill now goes back to the House in the final hours of the session to approve the changes made in the Senate.