• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Donate Now
  • Sign Up

Center for Medicare Advocacy

Advancing Access to Medicare and Healthcare

  • Eligibility/Enrollment
  • Coverage/Appeals
    • Medicare Costs (2020 & 2021)
    • Self Help Materials – Toolkits & More
  • Topics
    • Basic Introduction to Medicare
    • COVID-19 and Medicare
    • Medicare Costs (2020 & 2021)
    • Home Health Care
    • Improvement Standard and Jimmo News
    • Nursing Home / Skilled Nursing Facility Care
    • Outpatient Observation Status
    • Part B
    • Part D / Prescription Drug Benefits
    • Medicare for People Under 65
    • Medicare “Reform”
    • All Other Topics
    • Resources
      • Infographics
  • Publications
    • CMA Alerts
    • Fact Sheets & Issue Briefs
    • Infographics
    • The Medicare Handbook
    • SNF Enforcement Newsletter
    • Elder Justice Newsletter
    • Medicare Facts & Fiction
    • Articles by Topic
  • Litigation
    • Litigation News
    • Cases
    • Litigation Archive
    • Amicus Curiae Activities
  • Newsroom
    • Press Releases
    • Editorials & Letters to the Editor
    • CMA Comments, Responses, and Letters
    • Medicare Facts & Fiction
    • CMA in the News
  • About Us
    • Mission Statement
    • CMA FAQs
    • Personnel & Boards
    • The Center for Medicare Advocacy Founder’s Circle
    • Connecticut Dually Eligible Appeals Project
    • Ossen Medicare Outreach, Education and Advocacy Project
    • National Medicare Advocates Alliance
    • National Voices of Medicare Summit
    • CMA Webinars
    • Products & Services
    • Testimonials
    • Career, Fellowship & Internship Opportunities
    • Contact Us
  • Support Our Work
    • Donate Now
    • Join the Center for Medicare Advocacy Founder’s Circle
    • Take Action
    • Share Your Health Care Story
    • Tell Congress to Protect Our Care
    • Listen to Medicare & Health Care Stories
    • Sign Up

Health Care Sabotage: More on Short-Term Limited-Duration “Junk” Plans

May 17, 2018

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

In a New York Times article this week, Robert Pear reported on a study done by the chief actuary of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which shows the devastating impact of expanding access to short-term, limited-duration plans, as proposed by the Trump Administration. According to the Times, the study finds that as many as 1.4 million people could enroll in these plans during the first year. The study also finds that these plans could increase federal spending by as much as $1.2 billion next year and $38.7 billion over ten years. These numbers are in direct contradiction to what the Administration has said about the number of enrollees and cost to the government.

Just last week, in a hearing on Capitol Hill, Health and Human Services Secretary Azar defended the Administration’s proposal on these junk plans. Azar is quoted as saying “…expanding short-term health plans will not harm the insurance marketplace.” He also stated that “People are not going to be leaving subsidized insurance,” even as repeated studies show the opposite to be true.

For months now, the Center for Medicare Advocacy has been highlighting the impact of these misguided proposals on the individual marketplace and on older and disabled consumers. These plans were never meant to provide long term insurance. At best, they serve as a stopgap coverage in limited situations. It is important to remember that this sort of short-term coverage has high out-of-pocket costs, doesn’t have to cover essential health benefits, may discriminate based on age or gender, may impose lifetime and annual limits, and doesn’t protect people with pre-existing conditions. In fact, one insurer specifies that “A pregnancy existing on the effective date of coverage will also be considered a preexisting condition.”  

While such plans will attract younger, healthier consumers, those who are older or disabled will face higher and higher costs – essentially being penalized for remaining in the marketplace, which, for now, will be the only place they can get the actual coverage that meets their needs.

Below are just a few of the reports that clearly show that these short-term plans will wreak havoc on the marketplace and give consumers a raw deal.

  • Short-Term Plans Could Bring Long-Term Risks to California’s Individual Market: https://www.chcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ShortTermInsuranceRiskCA.pdf.  
  • Effects of Short-Term Limited Duration Plans on the ACA-Compliant Individual Market: https://www.communityplans.net/policy/effects-of-short-term-limited-duration-plans-on-the-aca-compliant-individual-market/.    
  • Non-ACA-Compliant Plans and the Risk of Market Segmentation: http://healthyfuturega.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Non-ACA-Compliant-Plans-and-the-Risk-of-Market-Segmentation.pdf.  
  • Insurers Remaining in Affordable Care Act Markets Prepare for Continued Uncertainty in 2018, 2019: https://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2018/rwjf444308.  
  • The Trump Administration Wants to Expand Access to Insurance That Discriminates Against Women: https://rewire.news/article/2018/03/28/trump-administration-wants-expand-access-insurance-discriminates-women/.  
  • Updated: The Potential Impact of Short-Term Limited-Duration Policies on Insurance Coverage, Premiums, and Federal Spending: https://www.urban.org/research/publication/updated-potential-impact-short-term-limited-duration-policies-insurance-coverage-premiums-and-federal-spending.

May 17, 2018 – B. Belton

Filed Under: Article Tagged With: alert, The Fight, Weekly Alert

Primary Sidebar

Easy Access to Understanding Medicare

The Center for Medicare Advocacy produces a range of informative materials on Medicare-related topics. Check them out:

  • Medicare Basics
  • CMA Alerts
  • CMA Webinars
  • Connecticut Info & Projects
  • Health Care Stories
  • Se habla Español

Sign Up for CMA Alerts

Jimmo v. Sebelius

Medicare covers skilled care to maintain or slow decline as well as to improve.

Improvement Isn’t Required. It’s the law!

Read more.

Latest Tweets

  • Our statement with @CANHR_CA and the Michigan Elder Justice Initiative recommends key issues of the Nursing Home Re… https://t.co/9nSwt3tAwT, Jan 15
@CMAorg

Footer

Stay Connected:

  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
  • Products & Services
  • Copyright/Privacy

© 2021 · Center for Medicare Advocacy