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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 20, 2019 
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jeff Van Ness, (202) 204-7515; jvanness@communityplans.net 

STATEMENT OF ACAP CEO MARGARET A. MURRAY IN RESPONSE TO FINAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM INTEGRITY RULE 

ACAP CEO Margaret A. Murray released a statement Friday morning in response to the final Exchange Program Integrity rule, part of which will require issuers to charge and consumers to pay two separate bills should their plan cover abortion services:  

“Health care is complex enough as it is. Requiring people to pay two bills for one product—health coverage—is a non-solution in search of a problem. This misguided rule will only succeed in introducing confusion to the Marketplace on a massive scale, and put millions of consumers at risk of losing their coverage.  

“Failing to pay both bills every month will set consumers on a path to total termination of coverage. It’s hard to think of another industry where the government mandates, as the Trump administration would here, that consumers cut two checks a month for the same service.   

“This rule is a departure from standard accounting practices and imposes operational and financial challenges for plans as they work to comply with the separate billing requirements. But the most significant burdens of this rule fall on the consumer.  

“What’s worse, ACAP expects that the administrative burdens this rule will impose on issuers and consumers will lead plans to drop abortion coverage—even if their enrollees desire such coverage.  

“This provision of the Program Integrity rule will wrap Marketplace coverage in red tape. The administration should withdraw these requirements immediately.”  

About ACAP 
ACAP represents 70 Safety Net Health Plans, which collectively serve more than 20 million people. ACAP-member Safety Net Health Plans and partners serve their communities through Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and other public health programs. For more information, visit www.communityplans.net.  

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