State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has issued some new regulations aimed at preventing health insurers from canceling policies after people get sick.
The proposed regulations require health insurers to make the policy application process easier to understand. The rules say all questions should be clear and unambiguous. And whenever possible, insurers are directed to use an applicant's electronic medical records.
Bryan Liang is with the California Western School of Law. He says the Department of Insurance needs to put some teeth behind its proposals.
"What it really comes down to is, we gotta have some intestinal fortitude by the people who are enforcing these rules, to actually get out there and enforce," Liang says.
Over the past few years, thousands of Californians have had their health insurance cancelled after they filed medical claims. State regulators have fined insurers millions of dollars for the infractions.
