Health Insurance 'Birthday Rule' Could Get Eliminated By Proposed ...

Because of an obscure health insurance policy called the "birthday rule," Kjelshus and her husband, Mikkel, were hit with an unexpected charge of more than $200,000 for the NICU stay.Now, six months after Kaiser Health News and NPR published a story about the Kjelshus family's experience, new parents may be spared this kind of financial uncertainty if lawmakers pass a bill that would give parents more control when it's time to pick a health insurance policy for their child.The new proposed law would eliminate the birthday rule. "Nowadays both parents typically have to work just to make ends meet." Two jobs often means two offers of health insurance — and while double coverage should be a good thing, in practice, it can lead to a bureaucratic nightmare such as the one the Kjelshuses faced.U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., introduced Empowering Parents' Healthcare Choices Act, a bill that would do away with the birthday rule and a "coordination of benefits policy" that trips up first-time parents when it's time to sign up a new baby for insurance."When I heard about the Kjelshus family's story, I knew there had to be a way to help," Davids said.