Doak pushes for short-term health insurance plans

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak weighed in on a controversial policy, stating he supports the push to expand access to short-term health plans.

Since the Affordable Care Act went into effect, conservative politicians have taken issue with insurance mandates on residents and have sought more affordable solutions. Some of those have included pushes for short-term health care plans, which are cheaper than traditional insurance but cover less and generally aren’t renewable for long periods of time.

President Donald Trump’s administration implemented a major policy shift this summer that officials announced in August. The new rules allow short-term plans to last up to 12 months and they can be renewed for up to 36 months. With premiums about one-third the cost of comprehensive coverage, the option is geared to people who want an individual health insurance policy but make too much money to qualify for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

“We see that it’s just unaffordable for so many people who are not getting subsidies and we’re trying to make additional options available,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.

However, Oklahoma’s current laws won’t allow residents to take advantage of the policy change. Companies can sell the plans only on a nonrenewable basis and for six-month durations. Doak issued a press release on Friday that said he planned to work with lawmakers to change those restrictions.

“These final rules are intended to help those left behind by Obamacare,” Doak is quoted in the release. “Short-term policies are not junk, as liberals suggest, but affordable options for millions left behind in the Obamacare disaster.”

Doak is referencing the crux of the short-term health plan debate: whether they are worth the money. Short-term plans were designed to cover people who experience a temporary gap in coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. That could be someone who is between jobs and awaiting his or her employer’s new insurance to take effect. Those plans don’t face the same requirements the Affordable Care Act placed on traditional insurance providers. Short-term plans can prohibit pre-existing conditions and maintain annual or lifetime limits. Those plans also don’t face coverage requirements, such as ambulatory services, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance abuse services, prescription drugs and preventive care.

Carly Putnam is a policy analyst at the Oklahoma Policy Institute who focuses on health care. She said there is a need to find affordable solutions to health insurance in Oklahoma. Census data released this week show that Oklahoma’s uninsured rate for 2017 was at 14.2 percent. The country’s is at 8.7 percent.

“Oklahoma now has the second-highest uninsured rate in the U.S.,” Putnam said.

The Kaiser Family Foundation tracked the number of short-term plans available to residents in each state across the country and the rate of which those programs cover a handful of benefits that are required of traditional insurance but not short-term plans. Oklahomans have access to 21 short-term plans. Of those options, 33 percent offer prescription coverage. About 57 percent of them cover mental health services, and 33 percent cover substance abuse services.

“Compare that to what our actual health needs are as a state,” she said.

Doak terms out this year. Senate Health and Human Services Chairman Ervin Yen and House of Representatives Public Health Chairman Mike Ritze both lost their re-election campaigns during the primary this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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