In the latest tweak to the Affordable Care Act, consumers and the Democrats who represent them won an Obamacare concession. Consumers can hold onto previously canceled then temporarily restored minimal insurance plans, which don’t comply with the Affordable Care Act requirements, for another two years, according to news reports. It’s also designed to help Democrats avoid giving up ground to Republicans in the midterm elections later this year. An article by Politico underscored that point. It called attention to a document released at the time of the announcement this afternoon:
“the changes were crafted in close consultation with a large contingent of vulnerable Democrats, including Sens. Mark Warner, Mary Landrieu, Jeanne Shaheen, Mark Udall and Reps. Tim Bishop, Elizabeth Esty, Carol Shea-Porter, Gary Peters, Scott Peters, Ann Kuster, Kyrsten Sinema, Ann Kirkpatrick, and Ron Barber.
Insurers have concerns that the extensions of plans that offered minimum protection will make it more difficult to sell the Obamacare plans in new markets. The article added that the administration has extended the offer to restore previously canceled plans to people in small group health insurance plans, in which small businesses could also have faced plan cancellations.
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Looking at the pros and cons of the Obamacare changes, it’s unclear whether these latest moves will change anything in states that previously rejected extensions for the skimpy plans. When the Obama administration initially said it would honor the millions of insurance plans canceled by payers states either supported the move or rejected it because of concerns that the sudden changes would roil the insurance market.
