Senate Democrats want new Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to explain why valuable consumer information about the Affordable Care Act has been deleted from the HealthCare.gov website.
Details on the ACA’s consumer protections have disappeared from the site and explanations of some health care benefits have been replaced by links to the text of the ACA legislation.
Information about choosing a doctor, premium increases and consumer rights to appeal health plan cancellations have also been deleted. And many mentions of the Affordable Care Act were also replaced with references to “current law” and the “health care law.”
In a letter to Price on Friday, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden D-Ore., said the moves will “will leave many Americans in the dark as they try to make informed healthcare decisions.”
Considering the Trump administration’s refusal last month to utilize $5 million in advertising and outreach designed to improve marketplace enrollment, “these actions are clearly designed to reduce the number of people who sign up for insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), putting unnecessary strain on insurance markets, risking American families’ access to health care, and creating Trumpcare by sabotage,” the senators wrote.
The senators want Price to explain the changes to by March 3, “given concerns that the information deleted from Healthcare.gov could have a detrimental effect on millions of Americans,” the letter said.
Tony Pugh: 202-383-6013, @TonyPughDC