The New York Times (8/4 Pear) reports that on Wednesday, the Trump Administration unveiled “a final rule…that clears the way for the sale of many more health insurance policies that do not comply with the Affordable Care Act and do not have to cover prescription drugs, maternity care or people with pre-existing conditions.” These new options “will help people struggling to afford coverage under the 2010 law, said James Parker, a senior adviser to” HHS Secretary Alex M. Azar II.
On its front page, the Washington Post (7/31, A1, Goldstein) reports that these policies, which are intended “to fill brief gaps in coverage, will be available for 12 months at a time, up from a current limit of three, and customers will be able to renew them for additional years.” The article says these “new rules are the second tool the administration has devised lately to foster low-price insurance that circumvents the Affordable Care Act’s coverage requirements and consumer protections. In June, the Labor Department issued rules that will make it easier for small companies to buy a type of insurance known as association health plans and, for the first time, allow them to be sold to people who are self-employed.”
USA Today (8/1, Alltucker, O’Donnell) reports that “unlike the so-called” ACA “plans, the short-term plans can deny or limit coverage based on an individual’s medical history. Experts say the plans may appeal to healthier adults who don’t need coverage for a chronic disease but want to spend less on health insurance premiums.”