Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent a letter to Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra opposing the final rules titled “Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance and Independent, Noncoordinated Excepted Benefits Coverage,” which limit affordable health care options for Americans. The rules arbitrarily limit access to coverage options that the Biden administration finds “problematic.”

In the letter, Chairwoman Foxx writes: “Once again, these rules demonstrate the Biden administration’s intent to take away freedoms from the American people, this time by undercutting the health care coverage options available to them. I am concerned that these dangerous rules will limit health insurance choices for American consumers, leave more Americans uninsured and in medical debt, and decrease the strength of the short-term and individual coverage markets. ...I strongly urge you to rescind these harmful rules.”
 
The letter continues: “Contrary to President Biden’s claim that ‘if you like your health care plan ... you can keep it. If in fact you have private insurance, you can keep it,’ the administration’s final rules makes it harder for individuals to maintain their health coverage. According to data from CMS, the Congressional Budget Office, and nonpartisan think tanks, the Trump administration’s STLDI rules reduced the number of uninsured individuals and lowered premiums. Yet, during a time when there is unprecedented churn in the Medicaid market due to redeterminations, this administration has decided to limit health coverage options for the uninsured.”

Foxx concludes: “Short-term health insurance and other nontraditional coverage arrangements provide patients with more portability, options, and flexibility than other insurance options available through the ACA individual market… I remain opposed to any efforts by this administration to limit affordable coverage options or otherwise force Americans to be without insurance.”

To read the full letter, click here.

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