U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor says the bill would also allow insurance companies to offer “junk insurance” policies, which could lead to financial disaster for cancer patients or anyone who gets sick while on them:

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, is calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to stand by his campaign promise to maintain the Affordable Care Act’s protections for Floridians with preexisting conditions and veto legislation letting insurance companies offer “junk insurance” policies, which the American Cancer Society warns could lead to financial disaster for cancer patients or anyone who gets sick while on them:

“If Gov. DeSantis has any regard for people with preexisting conditions in Florida, he’ll veto SB 322, which would throw the Affordable Care Act’s preexisting condition protections out the window and give insurance companies the green light to offer junk insurance policies that most major medical organizations in the country contend will lead to astronomical costs for anyone who gets sick while on them,”  Castor said.

Despite the fact that DeSantis claimed to support protections for people with preexisting conditions on the campaign trail, he has thus far remained silent on  SB 322, which passed both chambers of the Florida legislature and is expected to reach his desk for signature imminently.

While a provision in the bill claims to require insurance companies offer at least one plan in Florida for people with preexisting conditions in the event the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) is repealed,  it does not maintain the ACA’s provision that insurance companies cannot discriminate or charge Americans more if they have a preexisting condition  or get sick, Castor said.

Furthermore, Castor said, according to  a new report from American Cancer Society Action, junk insurance plans “are allowed to deny coverage based on an individual’s preexisting conditions – in many cases whether or not those preexisting conditions were known at the time coverage was sought. This allows short-term plans to discriminate against individuals with high health care costs.”  The report warns junk plans both expose people with preexisting conditions to “tens of thousands of dollars” in costs and will also lead to higher premiums for those not on the plans as they pull healthy people out of the ACA marketplace.

According to Castor, Florida legislation legalizing junk plans is only possible in the first place as a result of a new Trump Administration rule last August  giving state governments the green light to offer plans that don’t cover or protect people with preexisting conditions, all as a part of its effort to undermine the Affordable Care Act.

Castor authored  legislation recently passed by the U.S. House that would overturn the administration’s expansion of the sale of junk insurance at the federal level.

Castor represents Florida’s 14th Congressional District, which includes Tampa and a portion of Hillsborough County.

For information about Castor, go to castor.house.gov.

Kathy Castor | Health Care | Affordable Care Act | Health Insurance | Politics | Tampabay News

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