Tom Price makes push for “junk insurance”

Release:  Monday, July 17, 2017    

Contact: Michael Smith, Communications Director                                         

Atlanta, GA – “Nothing is more telling than Tom Price’s admission that the GOP’s endgame is to place power back in the hands of insurance companies. Before the Affordable Care Act, Georgians with pre-existing conditions were charged higher premiums or denied coverage altogether, being a woman was considered a pre-existing condition, and out-of-pocket expenses for lifesaving preventative care like mammograms and immunizations placed these services out-of-reach for many. Repeal of the ACA is cruel and dangerous.” – DuBose Porter, Chair

Yesterday on This Week, HHS Tom Price suggested that insurance companies turn back the clock on industry improvements and standards set by the ACA.

From Huffington Post: “It’s really perplexing, especially from the insurance companies, because all they have to do is dust off how they did business before Obamacare,” Price said, referring to an amendment proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would allow insurers to resume sales of policies that leave out key benefits, such as prescription drugs or mental health treatment.

“A single risk pool, which is what they’re objecting to, is exactly the kind of process that was ― that has been utilized for decades to care for individuals,” he added.

Cruz’s amendment would allow insurance companies to get away with providing “junk insurance” –barebones coverage that would cover very little while carrying higher out-of-pocket costs for those covered.

From NYT: The new version of the bill released on Thursday incorporates an idea from Senator Ted Cruz of Texas that would permit insurers to market all types of plans as long as they offer ones that comply with Affordable Care Act standards. The measure would also allow companies to take into account people’s health status in determining whether to insure them and at what price. State insurance regulators say the proposal harks back to the days when insurance companies, even household names like Aetna and Blue Cross, sold policies so skimpy they could hardly be called coverage at all. Derided as ‘junk insurance,’ the plans had very low premiums but often came with five-figure deductibles. Many failed to pay for medical care that is now deemed essential.

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