The Biden administration on Friday said it is reining in “junk” health-insurance plans that offer bare-bones coverage and can leave consumers with surprise medical expenses.
People who thought they were buying insurance that would provide them with coverage in many cases have been saddled with thousands of dollars in medical bills due to coverage limitations hidden in the fine print of short-term plans, President Joe Biden said at a White House event Friday. “That’s not health insurance. That’s a scam.”
House Ways and Means Committee chair Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican, said in a statement Friday that “an affordable insurance option for many Americans is now under attack” by the Biden administration, adding that limiting short-term plans would stifle competition and drive up costs. Biden was introduced at the White House event Friday by Cory Dowd, a consumer who purchased a short-term health plan after finishing a stint in the Peace Corps in 2018. “I wanted to be responsible and protect myself against the worst-case scenario,” Dowd said at the event. But after he had emergency surgery to remove his appendix a few months later, he was stuck with a $37,000 hospital bill, Dowd said.
“Often, consumers think they’re buying insurance that provides some decent coverage, not realizing these junk plans can limit what they cover and how much they cover,” White House domestic-policy adviser Neera Tanden said on the call.