Kansas Short-Term Health Insurance Expansion Passes

Kansas lawmakers on Friday passed out Senate Bill 29, which could potentially expand usage of short-term health insurance plans.

“Short-term limited duration” insurance policies are intended as stop-gap measures, intended to provide low-cost insurance for folks in between jobs or nearing retirement. Due to this nature, short-term plans also provide less coverage than normal health insurance.

Currently in Kansas, such plans can only last either six or 12 months with one renewal allowed.

In 2017, former President Donald Trump issued rules letting stop-gap insurance go up to three years, and the Senate bill would take advantage of this expanded timeframe for short-term plans.

Eudora Republican Sen. Beverly Gossage, also a health insurance agent, introduced the bill, arguing for it on the basis of affordability.

“As licensed health insurance agents, we have seen the private plans for our clients more than quadruple since the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was passed,” she said. “Many purchasers may either receive a modest subsidy or are forced to pay full price. ACA policies not only come with high premiums but also burden them with up to an $8550 out-of-pocket. Kansans need other options.”

But critics have labeled short-term policies as “junk insurance,” given they don’t cover much. They also say the plans don’t cover pre-existing conditions.

“While premiums for short-term plans are generally lower relative to ACA plans, our analysis shows that short-term plans actually expose enrollees with serious illnesses to much higher out-of-pocket costs,” said Christina Cowart, with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

Opponents also said encouraging more dependence on them isn’t good.

“Allowing these policies to be sold for extended periods of time would cause confusion to consumers, who may be misled into believing these products to be comprehensive in nature and prevent them from actually enrolling in more comprehensive plans,” said Kari Rinker, on behalf of the American Heart Association.

Proponents pointed to the fact neighboring states already have similar provisions in law, and that for consumers, the more options there are, the better.

While the bill was passed out, it did not get a veto-proof majority in the Kansas House and would need 15 more “yes” votes to override. The governor is likely to veto the legislation given the pretty united opposition from Democrat lawmakers.

Gov. Laura Kelly has 10 days to veto the legislation.

“We could better protect Kansans with short-term health plans by simply adopting the flexibility that the federal government allows,” Gossage wrote in an editorial supporting her bill.

Titus Wu, Topeka Capital-Journal USA TODAY NETWORK