Democrats and healthcare groups are attacking the Trump administration's latest healthcare plan as an attempt to undermine the core protections of Obamacare and increase costs for sicker Americans.
The Trump administration's new plan would expand the use of short-term, limited-duration health insurance plans for people who have a lapse in coverage. Currently, if a person experienced a lapse in coverage, for example after the loss of their job, the individual can get a short-duration insurance plan. These plans last a maximum of three months until the individual can sign up for a longer-term plan through the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Under the proposed rule, these plans could last as long as 12 months, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is considering letting people renew these plans at the end of the time limit. This would, in essence, allow someone to remain on the short-term plans in perpetuity.
