Rule on Short-Term Plans Is Within HHS Bounds, Agency Says

A Biden administration rule to limit short-term health insurance plans was within the Department of Health and Human Services’ authority because Congress granted the agency leeway to write regulations that are “necessary or appropriate,” HHS said in a filing in Texas federal court.

The department argued the rule was justified in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, where enrollees of “short-term, limited duration insurance,” or STLDI, were exposed to high out-of-pocket costs for care. Affordability concerns that prompted the Trump administration to expand short-term plans in 2018 were no longer an issue because of enhanced subsidies on the Affordable Care ...