GOP bills to allow "a la carte" health insurance policies to ignore state mandates

Republican lawmakers are working on a pair of bills that would allow insurance policies in Wisconsin to ignore state mandates requiring coverage for a broad variety of medical treatments and conditions, including autism, cochlear implants and mental health problems. One of the new GOP bills permits insurers to offer a menu of "a la carte" individual policies that does not include coverage required by state mandates, which currently affect more than a dozen different conditions and procedures, from mammograms, kidney disease, and breast reconstruction to contraceptives, child immunizations and diabetes. The other bill would permit out-of-state health insurers to sell plans here that do not comply with state mandates at all. (CAPITAL TIMES, 3/8)