How Congress Can Unlock Health Coverage for Millions of Americans. Right Now.
Today, along with 13 distinguished healthcare policy leaders and CEOs, I have authored a letter to Congress asking them to open a COVID-19 Special Enrollment Period. Here is our letter. And here’s what we’re calling on Congress to do:
COVID-19 has dealt an unprecedented blow to our economy and thankfully the federal government is providing resources and assistance to help businesses get back on their feet and get Americans back to work. But the pandemic has also brought about an unprecedented disaster when it comes to health care and the uninsured, and that crisis needs more immediate attention as well.
With a second wave of cases building, the time to act is now.
The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 27 million Americans have lost health insurance coverage as a result of losing their jobs in the COVID-19 crisis. When you factor in the 30 million Americans who did not have health insurance before the pandemic started, we have more than 57 million Americans in our cities and towns who have no health insurance. It’s been five decades since we’ve had this many Americans without healthcare coverage.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution for providing health insurance to Americans at a time they need it more than ever. Our nation’s health insurance Marketplace guarantees coverage regardless of health status and it ensures affordability thanks to Advanced Premium Tax Credits. Congress should use this existing system to support millions of Americans who need it now. There’s no reason to wait. It requires no new budget, no new regulation and no new technology to get coverage in more Americans’ hands.
Additionally, millions of Americans are seeing rapid declines in income, which means they are even more likely to qualify for and receive health insurance premium subsidies available under the Affordable Care Act. This is the first recession post-Affordable Care Act and many of these Americans aren’t even aware of the options that exist.
I’ve seen firsthand how the opening of a COVID-19 Special Enrollment Period can drive adoption of health care coverage among the uninsured. I am the founder and CEO of benefits marketplace Stride Health, which helps independent workers access affordable coverage. As COVID-19 was starting to sweep the country, the State of California decided to extend it’s Open Enrollment Period and allow anyone impacted by COVID-19 to enroll. We saw an immediate surge of Californians flock to our platform to find and buy health insurance because they, no doubt, feared that they or a family member might get sick.
10 other states and Washington, DC have followed in their footsteps (every State or District with its own marketplace, except Idaho), but we need action at a federal level to open up the rest of the country. There’s every reason to believe we’d see a similar surge across the country if we opened a Special Enrollment Period.
While there are existing “Qualifying Events” like job-loss that can make the newly unemployed immediately eligible to enroll in coverage, we believe a one-time Special Enrollment Period for COVID-19 is necessary because the Qualifying Event rules are challenging to navigate and individuals have just 60-days post job-loss to qualify.
The 30 million Americans who did not have insurance before COVID-19, but might be very motivated to get coverage now, aren’t eligible without a Special Enrollment Period. If we don’t act soon, most Americans who lost their health insurance after losing their jobs will no longer be able to get coverage because their 60-day window will have closed. Furthermore, the next Open Enrollment Period won’t offer coverage to start until January 2021.
The private sector has already spoken in support of opening enrollment. Private insurance companies who offer their coverage on the marketplace — and hold the most risk of letting new Americans into their risk pools — have already voiced their collective support (via their association, AHIP, and alongside the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association & US Chamber of Commerce) on not one but two occasions to immediately open up enrollment in individual health insurance to any American who needs it.
All we need is for Congress to remove a single barrier — the enrollment period qualification requirements — to enable more Americans to get the coverage they need, while those same Americans scramble to navigate unemployment and to pay their bills.
To get Americans the coverage they deserve, we are calling on Congress to open a One-time Special Enrollment Period that:
Lasts at least 8 weeks, if not through the end of the calendar year, to ensure as many Americans can get the health coverage they need;
Removes all “qualifying event” documentation requirements so that Americans can easily & quickly apply coverage;
Uses existing healthcare.gov and Enhanced Direct Enrollment technology so that Americans do not have to wait on-hold to get their coverage; healthcare.gov is already equipped to enable this.
Congress needs to open this one-time Special Enrollment Period to allow all uninsured Americans to enroll in America’s Health Insurance Marketplace. We applaud the addition of this to the HEROES Act that has been passed in the House. I have sent a letter signed by CEOs and leaders of some of the leading gig economy companies and also leading public health officials that strongly encourages Congress to ensure this one-time option is enacted.
We are urging the White House and Congress to use existing government systems and simply open up enrollment to any American who needs coverage now. There is only upside for our country, its citizens, and the health of our nation.
Thank you to my co-signers for taking action within their own communities and to press Congress for support at-large:
Noah Lang, Co-Founder & CEO, Stride Health
Bastian Lehmann, Founder & CEO, Postmates
Tony Xu, Co-Founder & CEO, DoorDash
Apoorva Mehta, Founder & CEO, Instacart
Hill Ferguson, CEO, Doctor on Demand
Stacy Brown-Philpot, CEO, TaskRabbit
Micha Kaufman, Founder & CEO, Fiverr
Stephane Kasriel, former CEO, Upwork; Co-Chair World Economic Forum Global Future Council on the New Social Contract, California Future of Work Commission
Brandon Krieg, Co-Founder and CEO, Stash
Andy Slavitt, founder and board chair, United States of Care; former Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy
Dr. Bob Kocher, MD, Partner, Venrock and Former Special Assistant to the President for Healthcare and Economic Policy
Aneesh Chopra, President, CareJourney and former first Chief Technology Officer of the United States
Alistair Fitzpayne, former Chief of Staff, United States Department of Health and Human Services
