Cornyn-Backed Junk Health Plans “Can Deny Coverage Based on Consumers’ Pre-Existing Health Conditions”

A judge ruled last week that Republicans can move forward with a reckless plan to spike health care costs and drag down the quality of care for Americans. Senator John Cornyn voted to uphold this toxic policy – even though it stands to drive up costs for Texans and allow insurance companies to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. Cornyn has refused to oppose his party’s legal attacks on coverage protections for pre-existing conditions, maternity care, and allowing kids to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26, and when it comes to gutting health care protections for Texans, Cornyn’s known as “repeal’s top salesman.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Wall Street Journal: Judge Backs Non-ACA-Compliant Short-Term Health Plans

By Stephanie Armour

July 19, 2019

Key Points:

• The Trump administration can continue to move ahead with its expansion of certain health plans that don’t comply with the Affordable Care Act, under a decision Friday by a federal judge.

• The ruling in Washington by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon dismissed a lawsuit by a plaintiff who had argued a Trump administration expansion of the so-called short-term health plans undermined the ACA. The plans are generally lower priced but can deny coverage based on consumers’ pre-existing health conditions. They also don’t have to cover the same benefits as ACA-compliant plans.

• Consumer-health advocates have said the Trump rule would drive up premiums on ACA exchanges because younger, healthier people may be drawn to buy short-term plans, siphoning them away from exchanges, where they help offset the cost of insuring older, sicker people.

• The action on short-term plans was one of the most significant taken to date by the administration to undercut the ACA. A bigger threat is a suit from GOP-states that the administration is supporting.

• The case may not be fully resolved until next year, placing health care at the center of the 2020 presidential campaign. An estimated 20 million people have gained coverage because of the ACA, and more than 100 million people with existing medical conditions could see their coverage lost or become more expensive if the law were struck down.

Read the full story here.

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