Los Angeles, CA – “The latest actions of the Trump Administration wreak further havoc onto our nation’s health coverage system, destroying critical supports for millions of families. Yesterday’s Executive Order intentionally destabilizes the insurance market and last night’s decision to eliminate required payments that are intended to help lower families’ health care costs would instead deliberately increase those costs for families.
The Executive Order significantly undermines ACA consumer protections by offering “junk” insurance to some, leaving others in the remaining insurance markets with far higher premiums and fewer plan options. Those most affected would be many of our most vulnerable, including those with pre-existing conditions, such as children with special health care needs.
The most recent action to eliminate cost sharing reduction payments will create more chaos in the insurance markets across the country and raise costs for families at least 20%. We are fortunate that California’s Marketplace—Covered California—had the forethought to anticipate and creatively prepare for such a reckless decision by developing a workaround to largely hold consumers harmless in our state. However, there are many states that do not have these consumer protections in place, leaving millions of families in jeopardy.
Instead of keeping a promise to improve coverage and lower costs, these actions do the opposite and are a reckless political strategy to dismantle the ACA. Our children deserve better and we call on Congress to act quickly to stabilize the marketplace and enact other bipartisan efforts to deliver health care to children and their families.” – Mayra E. Alvarez, President of The Children’s Partnership
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