Rosen, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Bolster Pre-Existing Conditions Protections By Limiting Junk Health Plans

Junk Plans Can Deny or Limit Coverage to People With Pre-existing Conditions 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), joined her Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra urging the Biden administration to limit the sale of short-term, limited-duration insurance (STLDI) plans, also known as “junk plans” because of their failure to provide adequate, comprehensive health insurance coverage. These plans can deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and are not required to cover essential services like maternity care, prescription drugs, mental health services, and emergency room care. Senator Rosen joins Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and 35 other Senators in sending this letter.

“Now is the time to issue new regulations limiting the sale and availability of short-term, limited-duration insurance (STLDI) plans, also known as “junk plans” because of their failure to provide adequate coverage,” the Senators wrote. “It is our responsibility to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable and comprehensive health care coverage. In order to strengthen that commitment, HHS must act quickly to limit the proliferation and promotion of STLDI plans, and undue the sabotage caused by the previous administration.”

In 2018, in an effort to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration made junk plans more widely available to consumers. Since then, the plans have continued to proliferate.

Throughout her time in office, Senator Rosen has been a champion for protecting the Affordable Care Act and its provisions to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions and lower health care costs. In one of her first actions in the Senate, Senator Rosen helped introduce a resolution to authorize Senate Legal Counsel to intervene in Texas v. United States on behalf of the U.S. Senate, in order to defend the Affordable Care Act and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Senator Rosen also previously co-sponsored legislation to block the Trump Administration’s rule expanding short-term junk health insurance plans that do not include protections for pre-existing conditions or provide essential health benefits.

Last Congress, Senator Rosen co-sponsored the Family Coverage Act, legislation that would amend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to provide tax credits to offset the cost of health insurance to spouses and children when an individual’s employer-sponsored coverage is not affordable for their family.

The full text of the letter can be found here.

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