Californians will not have the option to buy short-term health insurance if Governor Jerry Brown signs a bill headed to his desk.
Short-term insurance, often called “junk insurance” by patient advocates, is cheaper and more barebones. It doesn’t have to cover pre-existing conditions or basic services like maternity care, mental health and emergency visits.
The Obama administration limited these plans to just three months and made them non-renewable. A new Trump-era rule will allow the sale of short-term insurance that lasts up to a year and can be purchased multiple times. But the new bill would ban short-term plans altogether.
Advocates want to steer consumers away from cheaper, skimpier coverage and toward Covered California. Opponents of the bill want short-term insurance to remain an option for young, healthy consumers or people in between jobs.
If the bill gets signed, it would take effect January 2019.
This story was originally published by Capital Public Radio.