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Wednesday, June 21, 2023

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 3799, the CHOICE Arrangement Act, which would codify a discriminatory Trump Administration rule that created Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements – or ICHRAs. The ICHRA system allows workers to be divided into classes, with some offered only a stipend to find health coverage on their own. ICHRA rule also represents another attempt to tear down the Affordable Care Act (ACA), creating a structure that would make it easier to send those more costly to insure into the ACA marketplace, driving up costs for everyone who needs coverage. 

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Keep US Covered and its campaign partners have been urging the Biden Administration to reverse the Trump rule and protect American workers and the ACA. President Biden issued an executive order calling for a review and potential removal of this rule in his first days in office but has not taken action. Following passage of the House legislation today, Keep US Covered Senior Advisor Sonja Nesbit made the following statement: 

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“Today’s vote reflects the reality that ICHRA is a partisan regulation, intended to make workers and the Affordable Care Act worse off, and it has no place in our healthcare law. This bill would permanently allow discrimination in workplace health benefits and is yet another attack on the ACA. It sets back the progress we have made to advance quality health coverage and achieve health equity. We applaud Ranking Member Neal the House Democrats who took a stand to protect American workers and voted against this bill. It’s clear that the Biden Administration has the backing of its party to act quickly to roll back this dangerous rule. The stakes are too high to wait any longer.”

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To learn more about KUC and its partners’ work to educate policymakers on ICHRAs, STLDI, and the social determinants of health, visit KeepUSCovered.org or follow the campaign on Twitter and Facebook.

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