The Trump administration is proposing rule changes to the Affordable Care Act marketplace that, if approved, will impact how Marylanders will be able to buy health insurance through the state portal.
The rule, proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, would limit the amount of time people have to enroll for health insurance on the marketplace.
The enrollment period would move from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15 to a new open season of Nov. 1 to Dec. 15.
The changes would also get rid of the monthly special enrollment period for people who make up to 150% of the federal poverty level, allowing them to sign up for health insurance throughout the year.
The administration says the rule changes “would improve the risk pool by reducing adverse selection from people who may otherwise wait to enroll until they need health care services and would encourage enrollees to maintain continuous coverage for the full year. We also anticipate this would lower premiums.”
If approved, the changes would go into effect next year.
Vincent DeMarco, president of Maryland Healthcare for All!, says limiting open season would harm residents and possibly increase premiums.
“The evidence is clear that the best way to lower premiums is to get more people covered and extending enrollment periods does not make adverse decisions happen,” DeMarco said. “In Maryland, we have tried to make the enrollment periods as long as possible, and that allows more people to get enrolled, because people have very busy lives, and we want to have as long a period as possible for them to get enrolled.”
The rule would also keep DACA recipients from signing up for insurance through the ACA marketplace.
Those are people who were brought to the United States as children and have received a high school degree or served in the military. While they are allowed to stay in the U.S. legally, they aren’t technically citizens.
DACA recipients were only just allowed to use the marketplace through a policy created last year by the Biden White House.
That policy was challenged in court, with 19 Republican-led states suing over it.
Judge Daniel Traynor put a stay on a case challenging the federal government’s ability to enforce the rule and exempting the 19 states.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is pushing back against the Trump rule changes with a recent letter to CMS.
“The Trump Administration’s proposals would make healthcare more expensive, limit Marylanders’ access to plans that cover essential medical services, and cause millions of people to lose their health coverage altogether,” Brown said in a statement “All Marylanders, regardless of their immigration status or gender identity, should be able to access insurance that meets their needs and allows them to live safe, healthy lives.”
The Trump rule also prohibits states from covering gender affirming care as a benefit.
