Illinois proposing to eliminate short term health insurance policies

[John Foley]

One of our individual clients forwarded an e-mail advocating her Illinois Senator to continue to offer short term health insurance policies. It was so good that I thought it should be posted here. Producers in Illinois need to contact their Senator and let them know you oppose the elimination of short term health insurance policies in Illinois. Here is her e-mail to Senator Laura Fine's office (I took her last name off the e-mail to protect her privacy):

Hi Ben—
Thank you for replying to me. It means a lot to me.

I consider a $450/month premium affordable when I realize that I have catastrophic insurance that caps our responsibility at the $15,000 deductible and reimburses at 100% after the deductible with a very large network of providers that includes the University of Chicago—among many other facilities.

Yes, a $15,000 deductible is a lot of money—so is the $9,100 out of pocket that exists on the Marketplace plans.

I think the best example is what happened to our son when we were covered by a United HealthCare short-term policy. He broke his leg in 27 places skiing at Wilmont Mountain in southern Wisconsin on a day we shouldn’t have let him go skiing.

He had external hardware put in by the orthopedic for the Chicago Blackhawks—he was in network with United HealthCare. Total bills were over $40,000. Yes, we paid the deductible, yes we paid $450/month for our short-term health insurance - but we had access to a premier orthopedic that we wouldn’t otherwise have had access to.

Consider the same situation on the Marketplace—a $9,100 out of pocket, narrow network, no access to premier professionals, and a $2,300/month premium.

Many people would make the same decision we made during a period of financial hardship.
To take away short-term policies (I’m aware they don’t cover preventive care, they have limited benefits for prescription drugs, and a pre-existing conditions clause—this was explained to me at point of purchase), when a family needs access to affordable insurance options during a transition in jobs, a move, etc. is unfair to families in Illinois.

I am fully aware that limited benefit plans are not worth the paper they are written on—we researched this and found them completely distasteful. 180 day short-term policies have access to a comprehensive network of providers, have $2,000,000 of coverage, and are an affordable option compared to Marketplace plans during periods of financial distress.

I encourage Senator Fine to leave the existing 180 day short-term policies available to families in Illinois—this is family friendly.

PS thanks to our incredible health system, our son is fully recovered!
Thanks
Fran

 

[Jim Wright]

The President celebrated the elimination of "Junk" health plans after this rule went through. I don't think there is any amount of angry letters that is going to get anyone in DC to change their mind.

 

[John Foley]

I don't believe that rule has gone through...

 

[Jim Wright]

Federal Register :: Request Access

 

[John Foley]

So Jim...does this mean short duration health plans will be eliminated effective when? January 1 2026? January 1, 2025? I couldn't discern the effective date.

 

[LeeV]

If I understand it correctly, short-term plans are allowed to be marketed but they are now limited to only 3-months, with renewal of 4 more months.

 

[Jim Wright]

So Jim...does this mean short duration health plans will be eliminated effective when? January 1 2026? January 1, 2025? I couldn't discern the effective date.

They will be limited to 3 months plus 1 month extension starting 9/1/2024