Insurer to keep some health law provisions

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MINNETONKA, Minn., June 11 (UPI) -- America's largest health insurer said Monday it would retain some provisions of the Affordable Care Act even if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes them down.

UnitedHealthcare will provide customers preventive healthcare without co-payments or other out-of-pocket charges and allow parents to keep adult children on polices until age 26, The Washington Post reported.

The company said it would retain other parts of the law, including a ban on lifetime maximums on most benefit payouts and a pledge that policies generally can be rescinded only in cases in which a consumer was deliberately misleading in an application, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"The protections we are voluntarily extending are good for people's health, promote broader access to quality care and contribute to helping control rising healthcare costs," Stephen J. Hemsley, president and chief executive of UnitedHealth Group, said in a statement. "These provisions are compatible with our mission and continue our operating practices."

The Post said the provisions the company plans to retain took effect as plans renewed after Sept. 23, 2010, and have been popular among consumers and caused little controversy among insurers.

The high court could uphold the healthcare law, overturn all or parts of it or delay action until the law takes full effect.

UnitedHealthcare would include contraception and sterilization in preventive services without co-payments but would honor requests from employers or individual customers to remove such services because of religious or other objections, the Post said.