Self-Insurance Protection Act

HR 2571, the Self-Insurance Protection Act, clarifies that stop-loss insurance purchased by self-funded employer health plans is not considered "health insurance coverage" under federal law. It directly affects employers (both large and small) who self-fund health benefits for their employees, as these employers use stop-loss insurance to protect their company assets from unexpected, high medical claims costs. The bill amends ERISA to exempt this stop-loss coverage from state health insurance regulations and ensures federal law preempts any state laws that might block employers from using this protection. This change aims to maintain the availability of stop-loss insurance as a key risk management tool for self-funded health plans.