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House Republicans have started the legislative work needed to eliminate a federal warning label for fixed-indemnity health insurance products such as critical illness insurance, cancer insurance and hospital indemnity insurance.
Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., has joined with six Republicans to introduce the Healthcare Freedom and Choice Act bill.
The bill would nullify the fixed-indemnity health insurance notice provisions in federal regulations completed in April 2024, according to a copy of the bill text posted on Carter's section of the House website.
The U.S. Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration developed the regulations together with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the U.S. Treasury Department's Internal Revenue Service.
The fixed-indemnity health insurance provisions would have required marketers to include a standard notice telling consumers that a fixed-indemnity product, such as a critical illness insurance policy, was not subject to the same Affordable Care Act benefits requirements that apply to major medical insurance. In December 2024, a federal court issued an order vacating the notice requirement, saying the requirement exceeded the issuing departments' statutory authority.
The bill would also nullify the short-term health insurance provisions in the regulations. That would increase the maximum duration of a short-term health insurance arrangement to 36 months, from four months.
[EXTERNAL LINK] - House bill would eliminate warning labels for critical illness insurance products
