Biden EO Puts Fate of Trump-Era Short-Term Health Insurance Plans in Jeopardy, Feb. 11, 2021

In 2020, a D.C. appeals court upheld a joint rule released by the DOL, Treasury and HHS that relaxed restrictions on short-term limited duration insurance (STLDI) health plans, in accordance with Trump Executive Order 13813. One of President Biden's first acts in office, however, was to issue an executive order that explicitly repealed the Trump-era EO. STLDI plans are often criticized because they are not required to satisfy certain ACA requirements, including the minimum essential benefits coverage provisions. The D.C. court, however, held that the rule's definition of "short term" was not unreasonable because, in other areas of law, short-term is often defined to mean "less than one year". Now, both the agency rule and the court's ruling have been called into question--and it's anticipated that these plans may, once again, become impermissible. For more information on STLDI, see Q 483.