BALTIMORE, MD—Five governors are urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to withdraw a proposed rule they say would disrupt state health insurance marketplaces and limit access to coverage.
In a joint letter, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said the rule “would restrict states’ ability to regulate their health insurance marketplaces, causing confusion among customers, limiting enrollment options for low-income families, and ultimately disrupting local healthcare landscapes and making coverage less accessible to residents.”
The governors are specifically concerned about provisions in the rule that would restrict states’ ability to set open enrollment periods and determine eligibility; eliminate special enrollment periods for certain events; and change the way risk is adjusted in calculating premiums. These changes, they argue, would destabilize the markets, which rely on risk calculation, and leave individuals and families without coverage.
“Once again, it is clear that the Trump Administration will stop at nothing to restrict access to health insurance for Americans,” Pritzker said in a statement. “This proposed rule will cause confusion, make it harder to enroll, and limit healthcare access for the most vulnerable Illinoisans.”
The letter was addressed to CMS Director Peter Nelson.
“The Affordable Care Act has helped hundreds of thousands of Coloradans connect to health care coverage they can afford. The rule being pushed could raise premiums and make it harder for Americans to continue to see their doctors and get the coverage they need,” Polis said in a statement. “I urge the Trump administration and CMS not to raise health care premiums and to protect this important coverage for millions of Americans.”
This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.
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