By Josh James/KPR
Frankfort, KY – Parents looking to enroll their children in individual "child only" health insurance policies will get a chance next month, thanks to an order by the Kentucky Department of Insurance. In 2010, health insurers in Kentucky announced they would stop offering "child only" policies due to healthcare reform laws barring them from taking applicants' pre-existing conditions into consideration. Kentucky Insurance Commissioner Sharon Clark says that would have left some families with few options.
"The only coverage that would have been available for child only policies would have been through our Kentucky high risk pool Kentucky Access, or through the federal high risk pool."
Clark says both of those options would be significantly more expensive. That led to a compromise, where insurers are ordered to offer the "child-only" policies every January through 2013. A list of health insurers required to offer the policies is available at insurance.ky.gov.