Bill would allow short-term health care plans

A bill allowing health insurance carriers in Virginia to offer short-term health plans heads to full Senate despite public opposition.

The bill, SB1240, introduced by Orange County Republican Sen. Bryce Reeves, passed unanimously with an amendment in a key Senate committee with a 13 to 0 vote on Jan. 31.

The bill would authorize health carriers in Virginia to offer limited- duration health insurance plans lasting less than 12 months.

Three members of the public spoke in opposition to the bill and no one spoke in favor of it.

Ashley Kenneth, director for advocacy at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, spoke against the bill.

“We stand ready to work with the legislators to find solutions that protect patients and consumers by offering affordable and adequate health coverage, however, short term plans are concerning,” Kenneth said. “Short-term plans offer less expensive coverage, but are not required to adhere to important standards.”

Kenneth also said short-term plans disproportionately harm individuals with preexisting conditions, because insurance companies offering the policies can either deny coverage or charge them higher premiums.

Jill Hanken, director for Center of Healthy Communities at the Virginia Poverty Law Center, also opposed the bill.

“The plans are deceptively provided to consumers, it’s very limited coverage and consumers will end up with no coverage when they need it, and lots of unpaid medical bills,” Hanken said.

Marvin Figueroa, deputy secretary of Health and Human Resources for Gov. Ralph Northam, said the administration strongly opposed the bill.

The same bill was introduced in the 2018 session, but was ultimately vetoed.

“Senate Bill 1240 was heard by this committee and through the floor last year, and it came out of the Senate 40 to nothing,” Reeves said. “The governor eventually vetoed the bill, I think he had some concerns with what it would do with preexisting conditions.”

In the same committee meeting, Reeves introduced SB 1674, a bill he said aimed to correct some of the worries surrounding SB 1240.

“The next bill I think will hopefully clarify some of the concerns of why the bill was vetoed last year,” Reeves said.

Reeves said the bill builds a safety net for people facing a lapse in healthcare coverage either in the public or private sector.

Kenneth, Hanken and Figueroa all spoke against SB 1674.

“I think this bill makes it a little bit worse because it allows the short-term plans to renew much longer than they are currently allowed to renew,” Hanken said.

“The fact that the consumer can enroll year after year in short-term plans is problematic,” Hanken said. “This continues to also fragment our insurance market for other individual coverage, and can end up raising costs for everyone.”

Reeves defended SB 1674.

“The Congressional Budget Office had some projections that average premiums for benchmark exchange actually decreased by 1.5 percent for 2019 following the introduction of new short-term plans,” Reeves said. “The truth is actually short-term plans are helping with some of that cost.”

SB 1674 passed with a 12 to 1 vote. Both bills are headed to the Full Senate.