Washington, DC — Following the House Committee on Education and Labor markup of HR 1010, a bill to reverse the Trump administration’s expansion of short-term, junk health care plans, Protect Our Care executive director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:
“Chairman Bobby Scott took much needed action today to block the spread of Trump’s disastrous short-term junk insurance plans that openly discriminate against millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions. If Republicans truly cared about protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions, they would have voted with their Democratic colleagues in support of this bill instead of blindly following Trump in his ongoing war on America’s health care.”
Background:
Junk Plans Hurt People with Pre-existing Conditions
Junk Plans Are Allowed To Discriminate Against People With Pre-Existing Conditions.“Policyholders who get sick may be investigated by the insurer to determine whether the newly-diagnosed condition could be considered pre-existing and so excluded from coverage.” [Kaiser Family Foundation, 2/9/18]
- As Many As 130 Million Nonelderly Americans Have A Pre-Existing Condition. [Center for American Progress, 4/5/17]
- One in 4 Children Would Be Impacted If Insurance Companies Could Deny Coverage Or Charge More Because Of A Pre-existing Condition. [Center for American Progress, 4/5/17]
Junk Plans Mean Higher Premiums For People With Pre-Existing Conditions. “By promoting short-term policies, the administration is making a trade-off: lower premiums and less coverage for healthy people, and higher premiums for people with preexisting conditions who need more comprehensive coverage.” [Washington Post, 5/1/18]
Junk Plans Can Refuse To Cover Essential Health Benefits. “Typical short-term policies do not cover maternity care, prescription drugs, mental health care, preventive care, and other essential benefits, and may limit coverage in other ways.” [Kaiser Family Foundation, 2/9/18]
Under Many Junk Plans, Benefits Are Capped At $1 Million Or Less. Short-term plans can impose lifetime and annual limits – “for example, many policies cap covered benefits at $1 million or less.” [Kaiser Family Foundation, 2/9/18]
For more information, see Protect Our Care’s fact sheet on short-term junk plans.