Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and 31 other colleagues in a letter urging the Department of Health and Human Services to take immediate action to address short-term limited duration insurance (STLDI) plans, commonly known as junk plans, which fail to provide adequate, comprehensive health insurance coverage.
In 2018, in an effort to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Trump administration made junk plans more widely available to consumers. Since then, these plans have continued to expand. Junk plans are not required to adhere to important standards, including prohibitions on discrimination against people with preexisting conditions, coverage for the 10 essential health benefit categories required under the ACA, or annual out-of-pocket maximums.
“Now, more than ever, the Department of Health and Human Services must act. Beginning in April, millions of Americans will likely lose the Medicaid coverage that they have relied upon during the COVID-19 pandemic. We must protect those who will be looking for coverage in the near future, and take steps to ensure that these plans are not allowed to further proliferate,” wrote the Senators. “It is past time for your Department to step up and address the expansion and proliferation of junk plans.”
In February 2022, Senator Coons joined Senators Baldwin and Murphy in a letter to the Biden administration urging it to act quickly to limit STLDI plans. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, both of which Senator Coons supported, comprehensive coverage through the ACA marketplace is more affordable. Both bills expanded health care tax credits for low- and middle-income Delawareans, lowering health care costs for Delaware families and expanding access to affordable health care for millions of Americans.
In the previous administration, Senator Coons also joined Senator Mark Warner’s (D-Va.) letter to HHS and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to limit the use of junk plans.
In addition to Senators Coons, Baldwin, and Murphy, the letter was signed by Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Timothy Kaine (D-Va.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
Full text of the letter can be found here.
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