The Trump Administration is proposing to allow short-term health insurance plans to run as long as 364 days, up from the previous limit of just 3 months, put in place by the Obama administration.
But Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidlerthinks that is a bad idea.
Kreidler says many of the short-term medical plans do not have to comply with requirements of the Affordable Care Act:
“They have higher deductibles, and obviously have a number of exclusions, that’s a way to keep from having to cover pre-existing conditions. Uh, it doesn’t have the limitations of one million dollars. If you go over a million dollars in a particular year, sorry you’re on your own,” he said.
Kreidler says he will put together protections for those who enroll in such plans.
There is concern that the plans could compete with traditional insurance with the ACA guidelines, because the proposed rule does not block people from re-enrolling at the end of 364 days.
Kreidler is asking stakeholders to take part in the rule-making, which is expected to go on for the next several months.