Sen. Cardin Issues Floor Statement on Health Insurance Plans

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 -- Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Maryland, issued the following floor statement, which was published in the Congressional Record on Oct. 29, on the health insurance plans:

Today I wish to discuss this administration's perpetual actions to weaken protections for people with preexisting conditions.

Last fall, the administration issued guidance for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act--ACA--that would loosen the statutory guardrails for 1332 State waivers. The guidance encourages states to increase access to ACA non-compliant coverage.

The actions of the administration cannot make this message any clearer: President Trump does not support protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Because of the ACA, health insurance companies cannot refuse to cover someone or charge someone more just because they have a prexisting condition. Among the most common pre-existing conditions are high blood pressure, behavioral health disorders, high cholesterol, asthma/chronic lung disease, heart conditions, diabetes, and cancer.

In 2017, HHS released a report stating that as many as 133 million non-elderly Americans have a preexisting condition. The Maryland Health Benefit Exchange estimates that there are approximately 2.5 million nonelderly Marylanders with a preexisting condition, 320,000 of which are children.

Unfortunately, the Trump administration is taking actions that directly threaten these 133 million Americans, actions, which can lead to them being denied access to healthcare.

The Trump administration's updated guidance on section 1332 waivers skirts the intention of the law. Originally section 1332 of the ACA provided States with the flexibility to test new health coverage programs, as long as innovation waivers met certain criteria. States applying for 1332 waivers had to show that their proposal provided residents with health coverage with at least the same level of protections guaranteed by the ACA, that was at least as affordable, and covered at least a comparable number of State residents as currently covered under the ACA.

For example, Maryland was able to use a 1332 waiver to establish a State reinsurance program, which lowered insurance premiums by as much as 22 percent from 2018 premiums.

However, the Trump administration has issued guidance that redefines the guardrails of section 1332 and will now allow States to include plans that do not comply with the ACA's consumer protections. The guidance also encourages states to allow premium tax credits for non- ACA compliant plans, plans that don't offer essential health benefits or protect those with preexisting conditions.

The updated 1332 guidance allows State waiver applications to ignore statutory guardrails to ensure that coverage is not less affordable under a waiver, especially for those with high healthcare spending. This new guidance also sets a dangerous precedent, where a State waiver could skew numbers to disproportionately count junk plans in a State's total number of lives covered.

The updated 1332 guidance again makes it very clear that President Trump and this administration do not support affordable insurance for those with preexisting conditions. I was proud to join Senator Warner in introducing a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the administration's 1332 waiver guidance to ensure protections for individuals with preexisting conditions.

The harm done by this administration towards individuals with preexisting conditions will lead to higher costs of care for the millions of Americans. This resolution is a clear opportunity to show our opposition to the actions of the Trump administration to deny coverage for individuals with preexisting conditions.

My Democratic colleagues and I are calling attention to ACA, which has worked and is working, and how the Trump administration's actions seek to overturn the progress we have made to strip consumer protections like protections for preexisting conditions away from patients. We can't afford as a country to go back to the days before the ACA. Nearly 130 million non-elderly Americans relay on the protections provided by the ACA to guarantee that no insurer could deny them coverage.

TARGETED NEWS SERVICE, Harwood Place, Springfield, Virginia, USA: Myron Struck, editor; 703/304-1897; [email protected]; https://targetednews.com