Under Trump’s Proposed Rules, Small Businesses Could Band Together To Buy Health Plans
Republicans say that relaxing restrictions on association health plans will make coverage more affordable, but critics cite a history of fraud and abuse that has left employers and employees with hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid medical bills.
The New York Times:
Trump Proposes New Health Plan Options For Small Businesses
The Trump administration on Thursday proposed sweeping new rules that could make it easier for small businesses to band together and create health insurance plans that would be exempt from many of the consumer protections mandated by the Affordable Care Act. As many as 11 million Americans “could find coverage under this proposal,” the Labor Department said in issuing the proposed rules, which carry out an executive order signed by President Trump on Oct. 12. The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposal before the Trump administration adopts final rules with the force of law. (Pear, 1/4)
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration Proposes Rules For Health Plans Without Certain ACA Protections
The proposal, issued by the Labor Department, would carry out the most significant part of an executive order that President Trump signed in October, directing the government to foster alternative types of insurance. Proponents say the association health plans would be less expensive and enhance consumer choice, while critics — including the insurance industry — fear they would promote substandard coverage and weaken the ACA’s already fragile insurance marketplaces. Specifically, the rules would allow such health plans to be reclassified so they no longer would have to include a set of 10 essential health benefits — including maternity care, prescription drugs and mental health services — that the ACA requires of insurance sold to individuals and small companies. (Goldstein, 1/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Proposal Would Exempt Small Businesses From Some ACA Rules
[A] senior official said there are nondiscrimination provisions in the rule, a draft of which was released on Thursday, that would prevent an association from cherry-picking employers with healthy workforces or charging higher premiums to less-healthy people. An association couldn’t charge different premiums to different small employers based on health factors, the official said. But allowing the plans not to cover the mandatory ACA benefits could enable associations to essentially exclude people by not offering coverage for specific treatments, such as chemotherapy, said Timothy Jost, an emeritus law professor at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. “There are plenty of opportunities for discrimination,” he said. (Armour, 1/4)