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Statement of ACAP CEO Margaret A. Murray on ACAP v. Treasury
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 26, 2020
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jeff Van Ness, ACAP, (202) 204-7515
STATEMENT OF ACAP CEO MARGARET A. MURRAY ON ACAP v. TREASURY
WASHINGTON—Margaret A. Murray, Chief Executive Officer of the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP), made the following statement regarding ACAP v. Treasury, a lawsuit challenging the validity of regulations governing short-term, limited duration insurance (STLDI) currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. ACAP and its co-plaintiffs filed a brief in response to the Government late yesterday:
“Short-term limited duration plans are insurance in name only—and this Administration has promoted their use in a way that is clearly neither short-term nor of limited duration.
“We are also now seeing how junk insurance can be a threat to public health, as a man who returned from China with flulike symptoms was left with a bill for thousands of dollars after he went to get tested for coronavirus – and when it turned out he had the flu, his junk plan demanded three years’ worth of medical records to prove that the flu wasn’t caused by a pre-existing condition.
“At the risk of using jargon, this is crazy town bananapants.
“This is a largely unregulated insurance product that uses fine print and bureaucracy to keep premium as profit and out of the hands of providers that deliver needed medical services. While STLDI plans keep half, two-thirds or even up to ninety percent of premium to themselves, their members are left holding the bag with four-, five-, and six-figure unpaid surprise bills.
“Unfortunately, these plans have been encouraged to proliferate—and it’s entirely possible that they may keep people from seeking needed medical attention and contribute to the spread of the coronavirus here in the U.S.
“With the brief ACAP and our co-plaintiffs have filed today, we show again that the STLDI Rule is inconsistent with the text and purpose of the Affordable Care Act; that it very clearly departs from the plain meaning of the words “short-term” and “limited-duration,” and that it is arbitrary and capricious. We are confident that the facts will win out and that we will ultimately prevail in court.”
The brief is available in full here.
About ACAP
ACAP represents 74 Safety Net Health Plans, which provide health coverage to more than 20 million people. Safety Net Health Plans serve their members through Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Marketplace and other publicly-sponsored health programs. For more information, visit www.communityplans.net.