PARENT Act.

Senator Wahab’s PARENT Act weaves pregnancy into the core enrollment framework for health coverage, pairing it with a companion set of provisions that apply to both health care service plans and health insurers. The measure adds pregnancy as an official triggering event that allows an individual to enroll in or change an individual health benefit plan, and it does so for plans offered outside and through the Exchange, aligning the timing of coverage with federal expectations for enrollment and effective dates.

Key mechanics established by the act include a 60-day window after a triggering event for applying for coverage outside the Exchange or selecting a plan through the Exchange, with enrollment periods defined for both contexts. For outside-Exchange products, open enrollment, annual enrollment, and special enrollment periods are retained and synchronized with the treatment of triggering events; for plans offered through the Exchange, the act mirrors corresponding annual enrollment windows and two specific special enrollment periods, with coverage effective dates tied to federal timing rules. The bill also preserves prohibitions on preexisting condition provisions for plans issued or renewed after 2014 and prohibits enrollment rules based on health status or related health factors prior to enrollment; it requires that premium quotes be provided within 30 days of application and that enrollment or plan changes be processed in a manner consistent with established CFR-based timing rules. In addition, the legislation requires that domestic partners have the same effective-date treatment as spouses and maintains a single risk pool approach for rating, with limited actuarial variations permitted only for enumerated plan-specific factors.

Beyond the enrollment mechanics, the act harmonizes state provisions between health care service plans and health insurers, maintaining the single risk-pool framework, index-rate concepts, and the range of permissible adjustments while anchoring these arrangements to federal references. It also signals enforcement dynamics by noting that willful violation of the pregnancy-trigger rule would constitute a crime and that the act creates a state-mandated local program—without an accompanying state reimbursement requirement. The enactment text does not name specific enforcement agencies within the amended sections, and local implementation would thus rely on regulatory guidance and local administration, with no direct state funding earmarked in the statute. Practically, plans would need to update eligibility systems, enrollment notices, and consumer communications to reflect pregnancy as a triggering event, while staying aligned with the broader framework that governs open enrollment, special enrollment periods, and coverage-start dates.