The Trump administration announced it would change the maximum duration of short-term health insurance plans to less than 12 months, as opposed to the current maximum duration of less than three months.
It is great news that HHS is following our recommendation to give consumers the choice to purchase more affordable health insurance by rolling back a 2016 Obama administration regulation which caused the near-collapse of the Short Term Limited Duration insurance market.
By extending the maximum duration of these plans from 3 months to a year, HHS helps ensure that these plans do not become “junk insurance”, which individuals will be unable to access when they get sick. As it completes the final rule, HHS should go further, by allowing individuals to receive guaranteed renewable STLD coverage, so that this protection for the seriously ill does not disappear after that year expires.
Related Materials:
- Are Short-Term Limited Duration Plans Bad for the Individual Market? (Health Affairs, August 2017)
- The Failure of Obamacare Repeal Efforts Means It's Time for HHS to Take Action (Washington Examiner, July 2017)
_____________________
Chris Pope is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.