Short-term health insurance plans don’t offer the same consumer protections guaranteed in Affordable Care Act marketplace plans, such as a ban on excluding coverage of preexisting conditions. They also don’t typically come with the comprehensive benefits that ACA plans provide, like coverage for prescription drugs, mental health care, and maternity care. Recently, the Biden administration proposed new regulations to protect consumers from plans that may leave them without affordable access to needed care. On To the Point, experts from Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms discuss how states can build on these regulations. Among the steps, they outline: prohibiting short-term plans from selling policies during open-enrollment periods, banning plans from rescinding coverage, and requiring them to cover essential benefits. The authors also say aggressive plan marketing tactics that hinder consumers from making informed decisions may require policy action.
