Democratic Health Leaders: Trump’s ACA Rule Doubles Down on Raising Out-of-Pocket Costs and Forcing People to Go Without Coverage

Democratic Health Leaders: Trump's ACA Rule Doubles Down on Raising Out-of-Pocket Costs and Forcing People to Go Without Coverage

"CMS must abandon these harmful policies intended to further dismantle the ACA by making insurance more expensive, harder to get, and harder to keep."

WASHINGTON - House and Senate Health Committee leaders wrote to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz today expressing opposition to the harmful consequences that will follow should the Trump Administration move forward with its proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace.

The letter was signed by Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA-03), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ-06), and Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-MA-01), in the House, as well as Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) in the Senate.

"If finalized, this rule would exacerbate coverage losses and cost increases for the more than 20 million Americans who rely on the ACA Marketplaces for coverage," the Democratic Committee leaders wrote. "By your agency's own estimates, the proposed rule would decrease enrollment by up to two million people in 2027, increase premiums for those who remain covered, and cause deductibles and out-of-pocket costs to skyrocket. Making matters worse, this rule would cost nearly $1.4 billion annually to implement, with those costs ultimately passed on to consumers. The rule would also undermine and, in some cases, illegally eliminate consumer protections enshrined in the statute."

In their letter, the Democrats voiced alarm at how the proposed rule would increase costs and take health care away from Americans, including:

• Increasing deductibles and out-of-pocket costs by removing limits on how much insurance companies can charge consumers,
• Eliminating protections guaranteeing adequate provider networks,
• Undermining protections guaranteeing coverage of essential services like substance use disorder treatment and dental care,
• Expanding high-cost catastrophic plans,
• Threatening pre-existing condition protections,
• Locking people into 10-year catastrophic plans,
• Allowing insurance companies to charge families deductibles of more than $31,000 (in addition to premium costs) before covering most health care services,
• Eliminating standardized plan requirements is intended to make it easier for consumers to shop and choose plans,
• Promoting third-party brokers that have a history of pushing consumers toward junk health insurance plans, and
• Doubling down on red tape that makes it harder for people to get and keep their health care coverage.

"Americans need and deserve access to affordable, reliable, and comprehensive health coverage," the Democrats concluded in their letter. "This rule does the opposite, forcing Americans to pay more for less, limiting provider access and choice, undermining high-quality coverage, and burying consumers in red tape. CMS must abandon these harmful policies intended to further dismantle the ACA by making insurance more expensive, harder to get, and harder to keep. Instead, we must focus on addressing the affordability crisis Americans are facing-including their inability to afford rising health care costs."

To read the full letter, click here.

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