Rep. Hill: Members of Arkansas Delegation Applauds CMS Guidance to Protect COVID-19 Patients From Losing Insurance Coverage

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, March 27 -- Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release:

Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance to ensure that states can protect COVID-19 patients from losing insurance coverage due to missed premium payments. This guidance follows a letter sent by Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Rep. French Hill (R-AR), Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), and Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) requesting flexibility for Arkansas and other states.

"In order to protect Arkansans who test positive for COVID-19 and can no longer afford their health insurance, we sent a letter to Secretary Azar requesting he waive a federal statute mandating insurers issue delinquency notices to and cancel coverage for consumers who have missed health insurance premium payments. We applaud the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for exercising enforcement discretion with regard to this mandate during these difficult times and remaining committed to advocating for those who have been negatively affected by this virus. We also thank the Arkansas Insurance Department for taking the initiative to prohibit plan cancellation for those infected with COVID-19 and alerting us to the conflict with federal regulations."