US consumers are able to have cheap health insurance outlawed by the Affordable Care Act [ACA] by buying short-term policies that fall outside of the regulations. Sales of short-term policies, traditionally sold to consumers trying to fill coverage gaps, have soared since the ACA came into force. Despite attracting financial penalties for falling short of the ACA’s standards, the policies are still significantly cheaper than plans that comply with the new rules, which prohibits exclusions of pre-existing conditions, prescription drugs and other clauses. The Trump administration has been working hard to undermine Obamacare, but it is not clear whether its efforts will succeed.
US consumers are able to have cheap health insurance outlawed by the Affordable Care Act [ACA] by buying short-term policies that fall outside of the regulations. Sales of short-term policies, traditionally sold to consumers trying to fill coverage gaps, have soared since the ACA came into force. Despite attracting financial penalties for falling short of the ACA’s standards, the policies are still significantly cheaper than plans that comply with the new rules, which prohibits exclusions of pre-existing conditions, prescription drugs and other clauses. A survey by eHealth earlier this year found that 51% of purchasers of short-term policies cite price as the motivating factor versus 39% who said they needed to buy temporary cover.