House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the year-long temporary health insurance plans green-lighted by the Trump administration on Monday are “junk” that will drive up premiums.
The Trump administration announced Tuesday it would roll back an Obama-era rule prohibiting the sale of short-term insurance policies longer than 90 days. The rule was put in place to discourage purchases of year-long plans, which are cheaper and come without the same restrictions and requirements of Obamacare, such as enrolling people with pre-existing conditions.
Lifting those rules opens up the markets to the year-long plans, which are generally far less expensive but provide less coverage.
Schumer, D-N.Y., and Pelosi, D-Calif., said the plans would shrink the Obamacare marketplace, drive up premiums, and leave unsuspecting consumers who buy the new plans without coverage they may be expecting to receive.
“Americans purchasing these shoddy, misleading short-term Trumpcare plans will be one diagnosis away from disaster, discovering they have been paying for coverage that may not cover basic care such as cancer treatment, preventative care or maternity care,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Schumer called the plans “junk insurance” and called on Congress to write legislation that would instead fix the problems with Obamacare.
