Contact: Ben Voelkel – ben_voelkel@ronjohnson.senate.gov
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and 34 other senators today sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta, and HHS Secretary Alex M. Azar urging the administration to restore 12-month terms for short-term, limited duration insurance plans, which were available for two decades before being prohibited by Obama administration rules in 2016. The senators also urged the administration to clarify that issuers can offer renewal guarantees for STLD plans as a consumer option.
“Allowing STLD plans to offer terms of up to 12 months along with renewal guarantees, consistent with the October 12, 2017 executive order issued by President Trump, would allow options for enrollees who face skyrocketing premiums or who have an unexpected gap in coverage,” the senators wrote. “Restoring consumer choice in the STLD market would provide more affordable alternatives and allow for consumer options in the event individuals in that market develop illnesses. We urge the departments to provide maximum flexibility for patients and consumers in the final rule by allowing STLD insurance plans to offer terms of up to 12 months in addition to renewal guarantees.”
Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) cosigned the letter.
Last June, Sen. Johnson led 14 senators in sending a letter encouraging the Trump administration to reverse the Obama-era regulation that capped STLD-plan periods to less than three months and prohibited renewals.
