[Grapappytek]

The Hill: http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch...losis-district

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had no influence on the healthcare waivers granted last month to businesses in her district, an official with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Tuesday.

Republican leaders on and off Capitol Hill had slammed the Obama administration for granting a growing number of health-reform waivers to constituents of the top House Democrat. But Steve Larsen, director of HHS’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, said those businesses were given no special treatment.

“These temporary waivers are necessary to help ensure that the waiters, dishwashers, maids, home health aides, and other hardworking people can keep the health coverage they have, while we transition to 2014, when they will have access to affordable coverage in a competitive marketplace,” Larsen told The Hill in an email.

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Another HHS official told The Hill that Flex-Plan Services, a third party administrator used by many low-wage service industries such as restaurants and hotels on the West Coast, filed a request for 92 waivers on March 23, all of which were approved. The waivers are for Health Reimbursement Arrangements, whereby employers reimburse their workers for a limited amount of health expenses.

The approved waivers include 69 in California, 20 in Washington, two in Georgia and one in Alaska, the HHS official noted.

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The Democrats’ new healthcare law prevents health insurers from capping annual benefits, beginning in 2014. The provision is being phased in, with minimum benefits set at $750,000 for 2011.

The one-year waivers are designed to prevent significant premium increases or an erosion of coverage. At the start of May, HHS had approved 1,372 waivers. More than 90 percent of the waiver requests have been approved, according to HHS.