April 27, 2020
Modern Healthcare
Ceci Connolly, President and CEO, Alliance Community Health Plans
Margaret Murray, President and CEO, Association of Community Affiliated Plans
Being uninsured is more than just a source of personal anxiety. In a time of pandemic, being uninsured is a threat to public health. According to media accounts, some Americans who are uninsured or underinsured are afraid to seek testing and treatment for COVID-19, because they worry about the financial impact of testing and treatment. When they avoid these medical interventions, they can unknowingly hasten the spread of coronavirus.
That is why our two organizations—the Association for Community Affiliated Plans and the Alliance of Community Health Plans—last month asked the Trump administration to establish a special enrollment period during the COVID-19 national emergency, opening individual market coverage to anyone who needs it. And absent action by the administration we urge Congress to take this simple, consequential step to help flatten and bend the curve of the deadly virus nationwide.
Read the Full Op-Ed on Modern Healthcare (subscriber content)
