Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have introduced a bill to raise lifetime health insurance caps to $10 million, CQ HealthBeat reports. Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) introduced the legislation in the House, while Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) sponsored the bill in the Senate.

Patients who reach lifetime caps on coverage are released from their plans and "forced to pay their health expenses out of pocket, spend down their assets to qualify for Medicaid or try to seek free care from hospitals or other providers," according to a news release from Eshoo. Dorgan said a lifetime insurance cap "defeats the purpose of health insurance and forces those with disabilities and chronic illnesses into an impossible situation." He added that the caps cost taxpayers more because people with illnesses often turn to government programs when they are released from their plans.

Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesperson for America's Health Insurance Plans, said that requiring all insurance plans to expand coverage would increase plan costs. He said, "We don't support legislation that increases costs for all policy holders" (Attias, CQ HealthBeat, 2/27).

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