Sponsor
Andrew S. Biggs
Representative · R-AZ
Representative · R-AZ
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Andrew S. Biggs · Last progress January 3, 2025
The bill makes short-term insurance easier to identify and allows multi-year short-term coverage for people seeking temporary continuity, but it increases the risk that sick people will buy inadequate plans and that marketplace premiums will rise as healthier consumers shift into these cheaper products.
People who want temporary coverage can keep the same short-term policy for up to three years, giving more continuity than single-year short-term plans.
Consumers gain clearer rules because plans that expire in under 12 months are explicitly defined as short-term limited duration insurance, making it easier to compare product types.
Many buyers—especially people with preexisting conditions or chronic needs—may end up with short-term plans that lack ACA protections (essential benefits and preexisting condition protections), leaving them with inadequate coverage or high out‑of‑pocket costs.
Allowing renewals/extensions up to a three-year total could enable insurers to market multi‑year short‑term products that avoid ACA rules, increasing the risk that people buy plans that appear comprehensive but omit key protections.
Expanding availability of lower‑cost short‑term plans is likely to draw healthier people out of ACA-compliant marketplaces, which could raise premiums and cost-sharing for people who rely on comprehensive marketplace plans.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Defines short-term limited duration health insurance as policies that initially expire in under 12 months and that may last no more than three years total when renewals are counted.
Defines “short-term limited duration insurance” as a type of health policy that initially expires in under 12 months and that, when renewals or extensions are counted, may not run longer than three years from the policy’s original effective date. One other section only sets the law’s short title and contains no policy, funding, or deadline provisions.