Biden to crack down on short-term health insurance plans -Politico

[July 07, 2023]  (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Friday is expected to propose a new regulation cracking down on short-term health insurance plans, Politico reported, citing five Democrats with knowledge of the matter.

Biden is due to deliver an announcement on healthcare cost savings on Friday. A White House official told Politico on Thursday that Biden plans to announce major actions to lower costs and crack down on junk fees.   

U.S. President Joe Biden, delivers remarks on the U.S. economy and his administration's effort to revive American manufacturing, during his visit in Flex LTD, a factory that makes solar energy microinverters, in West Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The regulation will curtail a Trump-era expansion of skimpy health coverage, which critics said undermined the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and its broad protections for patients with pre-existing conditions, according to Politico.

The Department of Health and Human Services in 2018 extended the availability of short-term health insurance plans to millions of Americans in another Trump administration move aimed at undercutting the requirements of Obamacare.

Such plans, previously available only for periods of three months or less, were extended for up to 12 months and could be renewed. The short duration plans did not include benefits provided under Obamacare, including maternity coverage and guarantee of insurance regardless of health.

(Reporting by Rami Ayyub and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Mark Porter)

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