TrumpCare Could Mean Lifetime Limits and Less Benefits For Workers

There is a loophole in TrumpCare that could result in lifetime limits and the loss of other essential benefits guaranteed by ObamaCare.

UPDATE 2019: This plan never passed, and thus some specifics here are of historical interest only.

The state-based waivers allow states to waive essential health benefits. This results in a loophole where large employers who operate in a state that uses a waiver could apply the lax benefits to all the plans they offer (even plans provided to employees in other states).

This means very large employers will be able to pick and choose which state’s policy they follow (it doesn’t mean they will, it means they could).

According to NyMag:

The Senate health-care bill will reportedly retain the House’s language allowing states to opt out of Obamacare’s essential benefits requirements. This would free insurers to, among other things, sell plans that impose annual and lifetime limits on coverage benefits in some red states.

But it would also free America’s large employers to impose such limits on all of their workers, no matter what state they reside in. This is because, under existing regulations, employers that have operations in multiple states can choose to apply any one of those state’s insurance standards to all their businesses. In other words, if Utah allows insurers to cap lifetime benefits at $1 million — and a company has branches in Utah and California — then that company can ignore California’s ban on such limits and impose them on all their employees.

Obviously, that is not ideal. It is probably also something most people wouldn’t think about. The focus has been on people getting less assistance and like cost sharing assistance, premium assistance, and Medicaid. But the reality is workers have a lot on the line here too.

TIP: This applies to the bill as it passed the House, changes could still be made in the Senate.