Appeals court upholds short-term health plan expansion

Short-term plans, intended to be used as a stop-gap for individuals who have lost health insurance, were originally capped at 90 days. (Photo: Shutterstock)

While the Trump administration has been busy chipping away at the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, it’s also been expanding some alternative, lower-cost options, including short-term health insurance plans. And as the administration faces legal challenges to its attacks on the ACA, last week it earned a win against a legal challenge to its 2018 decision to expand short-term health plan term limits.

On Friday, in a 2 to 1 decision, a court of appeals rejected an argument that the Trump administration acted beyond its scope and in conflict with the intent of the law.  Judges Thomas Griffith and Gregory Katsas, who upheld the rule, wrote: ”To be sure, Congress hoped that most individuals would purchase ACA-compliant plans as their primary insurance, and it provided incentives to encourage them to do so. But it did not foreclose other options.”