Thread by @CitizenCohn

BREAKING Trump administration clears path for junk insurance, dealing yet another serious (not fatal) blow to Obamacare reforms huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-sh…

These short-term plans are going to be very, very cheap.

That will make them appealing, especially to people who don't qualify for subsidies & face exorbitant premiums now.

Some of them are uninsured. These policies will give them *some* protection.

huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-ob…

But short-term plans leave out key benefits.

Most don't have mental health or maternity.

Some don't pay for prescriptions or, if they do, the coverage is pretty limited.

kff.org/health-reform/…

If you have pre-existing conditions, you can't get these plans.

If you buy one and develop a serious medical problem, the insurer will likely look back through medical records to see if there were signs of it beforehand -- and refuse to pay. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

This kind of thing used to happen all the time, pre-ACA.

Insurers were notorious for finding excuses not to pay bills -- i.e, minor symptoms or test results that, at the time, nobody took to be anything serious. self.com/story/unable-t…

With a possibility of renewal for up to three years -- and with no individual mandate penalty to steer people towards comprehensive coverage -- prices for traditional ACA policies will go up. chirblog.org/coverage-doesn…

Last night, administration officials indicated they thought of short-term plans more as an alternative to ACA coverage, rather than a substitute -- and stressed need to do something for people priced out of coverage today.

Those people really need help.

But there are other ways to help them.

1. Bigger tax credits, available to more people
2. Reinsurance
3. Government price-setting
4. Expansion of public programs/single-payer

Democrats talk a lot about these ideas nowadays huffingtonpost.com/entry/liberal-…

Any of those come with their own tradeoffs, like higher taxes and regulation, that Republicans reject.

But the alternative is what we get today: Making insurance cheaper by letting insurers cover less and avoid people with pre-existing conditions. huffingtonpost.com/entry/gop-heal…

We knew this was coming. Administration proposed the change back in February. But the rule allows renewability, for up to two years, at insurer discretion.

So in some cases you'll be able to buy one of these policies and, basically, hold it for three years. That's a big deal.

Insurers know how to manipulate this kind of market, in order to keep people who stay in good health & shed the ones with big medical bills.

We're talking about creating a parallel market here, although it will depend on whether states have their own regulations in place.

It could also depend on the courts.

Technically the plans are good for only 364 days, not a full year -- presumably, to avoid ACA regulations. It's not clear judges will be ok with that, per @nicholas_bagley a few weeks ago.

theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/knoc…