The Trump administration can expand the sale of short-term health insurance policies that don’t meet the standards of the Affordable Care Act, a federal judge ruled, advancing the government’s efforts to undo Obamacare.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington rejected challengers’ claims that policies sold under a government regulation that took effect in October 2018 unlawfully undermine the ACA.
“Not only is any potential negative impact” from the rule “minimal, but its benefits are undeniable,” Leon wrote in a 40-page ruling on Friday. He said there’s no evidence the rule “is having or will have the type of impact -- substantial exodus from the individual market exchanges -- that would threaten the ACA’s structural core.”
Shares of companies that sell short-term health policies, including Health Insurance Innovations Inc. and eHealth Inc., jumped on news of the decision.
One of the plaintiffs, the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, said it plans to appeal the ruling.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington rejected challengers’ claims that policies sold under a government regulation that took effect in October 2018 unlawfully undermine the ACA.
“Not only is any potential negative impact” from the rule “minimal, but its benefits are undeniable,” Leon wrote in a 40-page ruling on Friday. He said there’s no evidence the rule “is having or will have the type of impact -- substantial exodus from the individual market exchanges -- that would threaten the ACA’s structural core.”
Shares of companies that sell short-term health policies, including Health Insurance Innovations Inc. and eHealth Inc., jumped on news of the decision.
One of the plaintiffs, the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, said it plans to appeal the ruling.
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