Tuesday, March 21, 2023  

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Ahead of FY2024 Budget Hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra,

                KUC Urges Action on Harmful Policies

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ahead of tomorrow’s Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Biden’s FY2024 budget with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Keep US Covered (KUC) is urging the Biden Administration to follow through on pledges to advance health equity and strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by unwinding Trump era ICHRAs and junk plan rules.
 
Secretary Becerra’s testimony is an opportunity to share President Biden’s health care agenda and plan to follow through on his executive orders from two years ago that directed relevant federal agencies to review and possibly rescind Trump-era regulations on Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) and expanded Short-Term Limited Duration Health Insurance (STLDI), also known as junk insurance. Despite U.S. Senators Baldwin, Stabenow and 32 other members recently calling for urgent action on junk insurance and harmful health care rules from the Trump administration, President Biden has yet to reverse these rules.
 
“ICHRAs undermine the quality and reliability of health coverage, open the door to discrimination in the workplace, and undermine the affordability of the ACA marketplace,” said Keep US Covered’s Senior Advisor Sonja Nesbit. “Junk insurance leaves workers with inadequate coverage and exposes them to higher out-of-pocket costs.”
 
“President Biden and Secretary Becerra don’t need Congress to end the Trump-era rules that created potentially discriminatory schemes like ICHRAs and expanded junk insurance. In his testimony and answers to the Senate Finance Committee on the budget, we hope the Secretary will detail how the administration plans to strengthen the health care system for millions of Americans,” Nesbit added.
 
To learn more about Keep US Covered 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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About Keep US Covered: Keep US Covered is a campaign committed to protecting and expanding quality health coverage and improving care for working Americans. Vast disparities in the American health care system continue to undermine access to quality care for too many. Our mission is to promote public policy changes that preserve equity in workplace health benefits and ensure health coverage delivers for people when they need it, beginning with the reversal of harmful and potentially discriminatory policies put in place during the previous administration, including Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) and the dramatic expansion of short-term limited duration insurance (STLDI). We also seek to broaden our national health care conversation to better account for the many factors that lead to health disparities. By reversing policies that threaten to disrupt coverage for working people and focusing on the societal challenges that impact health, we can make our health care system stronger for all Americans.

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