GAO Report Neglects to Mention the Cruelty of Limiting Short ‐​Term Plans

Michael F. CannonThe Government Accountability Office has published report examining " short-term, limited duration " health insurance (STLDI). (That ' s what federal law calls such health plans. A better moniker would be "renewable term health insurance. " )Congress exempts STLDI plans from all federal health insurance regulations. As a result, premiums are often 90 percent lower than ObamaCare premiums and ObamaCare ' s preexisting-conditions provisions aren ' tconstantly making coverage worse for the sick in STLDI plans.In 2016, the Obama administration arbitrarily limited the duration of STLDI plans to 3 months. In 2018, the Trump administration issued afinal rule that allows initial STLDI contracts to last up to 12 months; allows enrollees to renew that initial plan for up to 36 months; and allows consumers to stitch together as many 36-month plans as they like using “renewal guarantees” that protect them from underwriting after enrollment.The GAO predictably reports that there isn ' t much data on STLDI plans and rehashes the usual he-said/she-said arguments from STLDI opponents and supporters.But the report omits several dimensions of this issue that deserve attention. The case of near-elderly Arizona resident Jeanne Balvin illustrates many of those dimensions.STLDI allows consumers to purchase coverage when ObamaCare denies them coverage. In April 2017, ObamaCare denied Balvin coverage. Outside of limited enrollment periods, ObamaCare denies coverage to everyone b...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs