Senate revises bill to add penalties for dropping insurance, but stops short of mandating coverage
Consumers who let their coverage lapse for 63 days would be locked out of the insurance market for six months the following year.
A newly-revised version of the Senate healthcare bill is aimed at giving insurers the stability of continuous coverage and keeping them, and healthy consumers, in the individual market.
The revised bill mandates that consumers who let their coverage lapse for 63 days would be locked out of the insurance market for six months the following year.
This is to provide a stable market as the current version of the bill has no mandate for individual or employer coverage as did the Affordable Care Act, yet does require coverage for pre-existing conditions.
When the Senate bill was released last week, America's Health Insurance Plans said there was improvement in factors important to stabilizing the market, such as a one-year guarantee that cost-sharing reduction payments would continue.
But more was needed to replace the individual mandate with another solution for continuous coverage, according to AHIP spokesman Kristine Grow.
[Also: Insurers gain from some Senate bill provisions but Medicaid funding remains a top concern]
AHIP is continuing to analyze the revised bill, Grow said Monday.
The Congressional Budget Office is expected to release a score of the bill's impact on consumers and cost this afternoon.
[Also: Trump, Senate Republicans looking for healthcare bill this summer]
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly wants a vote before the July 4 recess.
Twitter: @SusanJMorse
