Some States Are Lacking in Health Law Authority.

'State governments that have for years allowed insurers to set premiums virtually at will are gearing up to establish procedures to review rate increases.

Under the new federal standards, insurers generally must offer coverage to children under 19 and must allow adult children up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ policies. Insurers cannot charge co-payments for preventive services or impose a lifetime limit on benefits; must allow consumers to appeal a denial of benefits; and cannot rescind coverage, except in cases of fraud or intentional misrepresentation.

States have the primary role in enforcing many of the new standards. If a state fails to enforce a standard, the federal government will step in to do so — as it did in several states after passage of a health insurance law in 1996.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/health/policy/15insure.html?_r=1&hp