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Washington Insurance Chief Concerned About Short-Term Plans

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.

 

 

Steve was part of the Spokane Public Radio family for many years before he came on air in 1999. His wife, Laurie, produced Radio Ethiopia in the late 1980s through the '90s, and Steve used to “lurk in the shadowy world” of Weekend SPR. Steve has done various on air shifts at the station, including nearly 15 years as the local Morning Edition host. Currently, he is the voice of local weather and news during All Things Considerd, writing, editing, producing and/or delivering newscasts and features for both KPBX and KSFC. Aside from SPR, Steve ,who lives in the country, enjoys gardening, chickens, playing and listening to music, astronomy, photography, sports cars and camping.