Junk Mail

DC is dragging junk insurance out of the grave and calling it reform. Short term limited duration plans function as scams. They let insurers pocket premiums while denying coverage the second someone files a claim.

Patients get sold glossy promises that collapse the moment they need care.

Wendell Potter’s “Healthcare Uncovered” article lays out the con in detail. These plans siphon healthy people out of real insurance pools and dump everyone else into higher premiums. They erase coverage for maternity, mental health, and cancer. They exclude people with chronic conditions. The system guarantees profits for carriers and guarantees disaster for patients.

Federal regulators signed off on a rule that shortens enrollment windows, restricts access to tax credits, and even bans gender affirming care. Washington’s insurance commissioner warned nearly 300,000 residents will face new barriers.

I have lived through this cycle before. In the 1990s, insurers pushed “choice” as cover to gut protections. Today they repackage the same scam with new branding. The outcome does not change. Patients like me get left holding the bag.

Every major industry has a lobby. Pharma. Hospitals. Insurance. Patients have crowdfunding campaigns. That imbalance explains why junk insurance keeps crawling back into law. Until patients organize like a constituency instead of begging for scraps, the system will keep feeding on us.

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SOURCE ➡️ https://open.substack.com/pub/healthcareuncovered/p/with-return-of-junk-insurance-washington?r=wlxsl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false