Proposed Rule Change will Suppress ACA Enrollment and Limit Healthcare for Transgender Americans
I kept thinking I would see a post that I could just reblog, but I haven't and the comment period for this one ends April 11. So here is my attempt to summarize. The Trump Admin is proposing rule changes for the ACA (Marketplace Heath Insurance). They claim it's to address the issue of improper sign ups and fraud, which is a real problem of brokers who have signed people up or changed their healthcare plans without their knowledge. In this proposal they're inflating the probable fraud numbers exponentially through some study done by a conservative thinktank, but I looked it up and through August of last year there were 275K consumer complaints about people experiencing sign ups or changes without their knowledge, so it is happening. But rather than focus on increasing security for the sign up process so brokers can't access customer files without consent or on higher punishments for brokers caught doing this or any other measures that would address the actual fraud issue, they're using it as a smokescreen to undermine the ACA by taking measures that would lower enrollment and also to target their favorite scapegoats: immigrants, transgender folks, and the poor.
Here's the proposed rule change. It's file code CMS-9884-P. (Use the code if you do want to leave a comment.)
My attempt to summarize is under the cut. And here are some other summary links and articles. If anyone within actual healthcare circles or government circles or trans/immigrant advocacy circles has resources or data that can be used to dispute what they're putting forward or comment templates or anything, please share them.
