AHIP Amicus Brief Focuses on Critical Linkage between Insurance Market Reforms and Coverage Requirement
Policy-oriented “Brandeis” brief filed in the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in support of neither party
AHIP filed a policy-oriented amicus brief in the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit that reiterates our longstanding position that the guarantee issue and community rating provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are inextricably linked to the law’s personal coverage requirement. The decision in the District Court struck down the individual mandate, but left the market reforms in place—a situation which experience in the states has demonstrated would have severe unintended consequences for consumers.
The respective parties in the litigation are addressing the legal issues of constitutionality and severability. AHIP’s brief, filed in support of neither party, is a “Brandeis” brief that focuses solely on the economic consequences that would inevitably occur if the personal coverage requirement is removed from the law while the major insurance market reforms remain. AHIP’s brief is intended to serve as a resource to deepen the Court’s understanding of the real-world economic implications for consumers of delinking major provisions of the law that were widely understood to be companion solutions as the nation debated health care reform.
“Our brief reiterates the economic case we have consistently made for years that the market reforms in the law and the personal coverage requirement are inextricably linked; it does not address the legal issues of constitutionality or severability,” said AHIP press secretary Robert Zirkelbach.
Citing powerful evidence from a number of states that have enacted guarantee issue and community rating in the absence of a personal coverage requirement, the brief shows that such an approach results in higher premiums, coverage disruptions, and loss of choice for consumers.
AHIP has long agreed with a wide range of leading economists and health policy experts that enacting guarantee issue and community rating has severe unintended consequences unless they are paired with a strong commitment to achieve universal coverage through an effective and enforced personal coverage requirement.
AHIP’s full brief is available by clicking here.
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