House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) called the Keep Your Health Plan Act that he introduced a “sensible solution” to the troubled rollout of the Affordable Care Act on Monday.
The bill would allow insurance companies to sell insurance plans that are in effect now through 2014 without using the healthcare exchange established under ACA. Those health plans would then be “grandfathered” to meet minimal essential coverage requirements.
“The Keep Your Health Plan Act is a simple, sensible solution that would allow health plans being offered today to continue into next year,” Upton said. “Particularly, as consumers struggle with the error-prone online enrollment process, the Keep Your Health Plan Act is a voluntary escape hatch that would give added flexibility for Americans who truly want to keep the plan they have.”
Along with glitches and privacy questions surrounding ACA’s enrollment website, premiums have soared as much as 400 percent for some individuals under the law, Upton said.
“Investigating this law’s implementation is about accountability, transparency and fairness,” Upton added. “To those who say ACA is the law of the land, I concur. That is why it needs the same scrutiny we give other programs that affect American citizens and consume taxpayer dollars.”