Some GOP lawmakers also are agreeing to expand the type of procedures insurers must cover. Twelve of 15 Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in the Senate and voted to require insurers to pay for surgery to fix cleft palates, a common birth defect that occurs in one of every 790 babies.
A panel of experts said this would add only $146,000 in annual costs to California's $79-billion insurance industry, but insurers are opposing it because they don't want lawmakers limiting the policies they offer.
On the Senate floor in mid-May, five of 15 Republicans ignored industry opposition by voting to compel insurers to reveal how often they rule that procedures are not medically necessary.
The bill, by Kuehl, also would force insurers to disclose the medical qualifications of the employees who make those decisions.
That same day, four Republican senators voted to pass another Kuehl bill that would require insurers to offer customers the option of adding, for an additional charge, coverage to include the purchase of wheelchairs, oxygen tanks and other durable medical equipment.
Sen. Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley), who voted for the measure, said insurance policies have become too complicated to understand.
"I've got grown kids who have advanced college degrees, and they're not sure if something's covered or not," he said.
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jordan.rau@latimes.com
