Charles Gaba is out with a magisterial take-down of HHS Secretary Alex Azar's op-ed touting the Trump administration's promotion of medically underwritten 'short-term" health plans (now with terms of up to 364 days, renewable twice) as a solution for those who have been priced out of the ACA marketplace.
Gaba points out that in decrying the high cost of ACA-compliant plans for the unsubsidized, Azar ignores:
Gaba points out that in decrying the high cost of ACA-compliant plans for the unsubsidized, Azar ignores:
- The extent to which various forms of Trump administration sabotage have driven the huge premium increases of the past two years.
- The premium growth trend in the pre-ACA individual market.
- The average actuarial value of pre-ACA plans compared to ACA-compliant plans.
- The likely impact of a barely-regulated short-term market on the ACA risk pool.
- The gross inadequacies of short-term plans now on the market.
I want to focus on two other major sleights of hand Azar indulges in. The first concerns the target market potentially served by short-term plans, and the second, the source of their affordability.
