Trump administration widens availability of skimpy, short-term health plans

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/national/health-science/trump-administration-widens-availability-of-skimpy-short-term-health-plans/2018/07/31/a5cf2bc2-94d2-11e8-810c-5fa705927d54_story.html

The Trump administration issued new insurance rules early Wednesday to encourage more Americans to buy inexpensive, skimpy health plans originally designed for short-term use.

The policies will be available for 12 months at a time, up from a current limit of three, and customers will be able to renew them for additional years.

The new rules are the second tool the administration has devised lately to foster low-price insurance that circumvents the Affordable Care Act’s coverage requirements and consumer protections. In June, the Labor Department issued rules that will make it easier for small companies to buy a type of insurance known as association health plans and, for the first time, allow them to be sold to people who are self-employed.

The pair of new rules carries out an executive order President Trump signed in October, directing agencies to broaden access to these two small niches in the insurance market to promote “a health-care system that provides high-quality care at affordable prices for the American people.”

In issuing the latest rules with a media blitz, administration officials characterized them as a major step toward fulfilling the president’s promise to widen insurance choices. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar made morning television appearances. “This is really exciting,” he said on Fox News.

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