Trump Administration Bridges Health Insurance Gap

Help could soon be on the way for many of those harmed by Obamacare's burdensome rules and regulations.

The Trump administration recently announced that they will expand short-term health insurance plans that last up to 12 months and can be renewed up to 36 weeks. This is critical, because such plans are not subject to the benefit mandates and underwriting restrictions that have driven up insurance premiums across the country, including Pennsylvania.

The goal of Trump's plan? More choices at an affordable price for those in need of temporary coverage.

Before Obamacare, scholars regularly debated the number of truly uninsured Americans. One study found about one-third of the uninsured were, in fact, temporarily insured. In other words, these people were uninsured because they were between jobs or experiencing a significant life change that interrupted their health insurance coverage.

The administration's regulatory change goes far to help those individuals bridge the gap between employer insurance plans without paying the sky-high costs of Obamacare regulated plans.

Repealing the individual mandate, attempting to reduce 20 taxes in Obamacare, expanding HSAs, creating association plans, and now allowing affordable temporary insurance are all steps in the right direction. However, we can’t get at the root cause of rising health care costs without fully repealing the Obamacare and fixing federal law to end the preference for employer-based health insurance. Only then will we see the transparency and competition needed to make health care truly accessible.