Murphy, Baldwin, Shaheen, Blumenthal, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Limit Junk Health Plans That Undermine Standards of Affordable Care Act

Press Release

U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) on Monday led 37 of their Senate colleagues, including U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra urging the Biden administration to limit the sale and availability of short-term, limited-duration insurance (STLDI) plans, also known as "junk plans" because of their failure to provide adequate, comprehensive health insurance coverage.

In 2018, in an effort to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Trump administration made junk plans more widely available to consumers. Since then, the plans have continued to proliferate, however, they are not required to adhere to important standards, including prohibitions on discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions, coverage for the 10 essential health benefit (EHB) categories, and annual out-of-pocket maximums.

"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," said the senators.

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