Legal Analyst Tim Jost: Idaho’s Proposal for State-Based Health Plans Violates ACA
<p>Last month, Idaho Governor Butch Otter issued an executive order directing the state’s insurance department to authorize “state-based health benefit plans” that comply with Idaho insurance requirements that existed before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — but not with the ACA itself. </p><p>In a new <em>To the Point</em> post, health law expert Timothy S. Jost says these plans would offer few consumer protections. For example, they would not have to cover the ACA’s “essential health benefits,” including maternity care, and could exclude coverage of preexisting conditions for up to a year. Insurers could also vary their premiums based on age, tobacco use, and health status. </p>
<p>But as Jost points out, the U.S. Constitution holds that federal law is the supreme law of the land, and the ACA itself states that its terms preempt any state law. “Congress failed to repeal the ACA,” he writes. “Individual states certainly cannot repeal it on their own.”</p>