Amid reports that millions of Americans, including nearly 25,000 Nevadans, have lost their health insurance coverage due to the Affordable Care Act, Congressman Joe Heck (NV-03) today voted in favor of H.R. 3350, the Keep Your Health Plan Act of 2013, legislation he cosponsored which requires that health insurance coverage available on the individual market as of January 1, 2013 may continue to be offered during 2014 and that such coverage will be considered a grandfathered health plan for purposes of an individual meeting the requirement to maintain minimum essential health coverage.
The Keep Your Health Plan Act of 2013 passed the House on a 261 to 157 bipartisan vote.
“Americans were promised they could keep their current health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and we now know that is clearly and sadly not the case,” Rep. Heck said. “This legislation restores that promise to those who were kicked off their existing plans.”
Yesterday, Congressman Heck spoke on the House floor to highlight the story of a constituent who was kicked off her health insurance due to the Affordable Care Act.
Additionally, Rep. Heck today introduced legislation that eliminates burdensome federal regulations and changes in law due to the Affordable Care Act to extend freedom of healthcare choices to our nation’s seniors. The Seniors Health Care Choice Act has two main provisions:
* Allows individuals with COBRA continuation health coverage to remain on their group health plan and delay enrollment in the Medicare program without incurring a lifetime late enrollment penalty upon enrollment in Medicare.
* Restores the Open Enrollment Period (OEP) for Medicare Advantage (MA) so that beneficiaries may switch to another MA plan between January and March. This provision restores the OEP to its pre-PPACA status.
“Our seniors deserve to have the freedom to make the healthcare decisions that are best for them without fear of penalty or gaps in coverage,” Rep. Heck said. “The Seniors Health Care Choice Act eliminates flawed regulations as well as changes made under the ACA to give our seniors that peace of mind.”
(This statement was originally published on Rep. Heck’s congressional website)
