Bill in the Kansas Legislature would allow more choice is needed for health insurance needs – The Topeka Capital-Journal

Health care is personal, so people should be able to choose the health care coverage that is right for them. Fortunately, a bill in the Kansas Legislature would allow for more affordable and flexible alternatives to expensive Obamacare plans and other forms of insurance.

Short Term Limited Duration Plans, or short-term medical plans as they’re often called, allow families to customize their health care and purchase the benefit coverage that works for them. Obamacare plans, on the other hand, require users to buy one-size-fits-none policies bloated with government-mandated features that consumers may not want or need.

This bureaucratic approach caused average health care premiums to skyrocket by 129% across most states between 2013 and 2019. The freedom to customize explains why short-term plan premiums are typically 50% to 80% lower than Obamacare plans.

Ironically, many hospitals and doctors reject bloated Obamacare plans but will take patients using short-term plans.

People find their circumstances change and a short-term plan offers them a stopgap or temporary solution. A recently laid off worker in Overland Park in search of another job, a university student in Lawrence who is not eligible for student health insurance or the new grandmother in Salina who just retired but does not yet qualify for Medicare are all examples of people who might find the flexibility of short-term plans particularly attractive.

Without these plans, many people would be stuck either without insurance or paying for costly coverage that they don’t want or need.

And because everybody’s situation is different, the bill being considered by lawmakers would allow insurers to offer short-term plans with up to a 36-month renewal period. This is a health insurance advantage that other states in our region, including Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma, have already been using and enjoying for several years now.

The plans’ immense popularity is easy to understand; they offer consumers access to a more affordable insurance option tailored to their personal needs. Nearly 70% of Americans support a personal option for health care that includes making short-term plans more widely available. Just 30% would support single-payer health care or a government option plan (the so-called “public option”) instead.

Americans clearly prefer tailored short-term options over government-run health care.

Allowing Kansans more health care freedom of choice by permitting short-term insurance is popular among Kansas legislators, too. The Legislature passed a bill that would allow insurers to offer short-term plans, only to have Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly veto the bill last May.

The governor instead wants to pass legislation that would lengthen the federal government’s reach into Kansas by expanding Medicaid.

Denying Kansans the freedom to make their own health insurance decisions does nothing to drive prices down. In fact, Kansas has the dubious distinction of being among five states where employer-based insurance premiums and deductibles exceed $9,000 per year.

The Kansas Legislature understands the urgency of lowering high premiums and deductibles, and members are reintroducing the short-term medical plans bill again. The bill will likely pass with overwhelming majorities and reach Gov. Kelly’s desk, just like last year.

This time around, the governor would be wise to adhere to the will of Kansans who want more affordable choices and the elected officials who represent those individuals and families.

Short-term medical plans will give Kansans more and better choices. Instead of being stuck with bulky and monolithic insurance options, people will be able to pick a plan that fits their needs and time constraints.

It is time that Kansans had more personalized health care options that worked for them.

Elizabeth Patton is state director at Americans for Prosperity-Kansas.