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Health Care Sabotage: Final Rule Would Let Insurers Offer Junk Plans That Skimp on Benefits

June 19, 2018

Health Care Sabotage: Final Rule Would Let Insurers Offer Junk Plans That Skimp on Benefits

Statement of Eagan Kemp, Health Care Policy Advocate, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division

Note: The Trump administration’s “junk plan” rule, finalized today, would allow insurers to sell health care plans without adequate coverage for essentials such as prescriptions and quality maternity care. Enrollees who get sick may be responsible for significant expenses, forcing them into debt for care and risking medical bankruptcy.

The Trump administration’s ill-conceived rule on association health plans will hurt millions of patients, particularly the most vulnerable, who face rising costs and may be unable to afford insurance and access to affordable care. This rule will further destabilize the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces, as insurers providing junk plans will be able to cherry-pick the young and healthy, leaving only the sick to be covered under plans that continue to have ACA protections and causing their premiums to rise. Allowing the sale of poorly regulated plans takes us back to a time when greedy insurers offered false promises to consumers and abandoned them when they got sick.

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