Short-term health plans may offer less coverage than the Affordable Care Act mandates — but the plans are useful for people who are between jobs or in other temporary-need situations.

Now, however, these plans are on the chopping block.

“Forcing everyone into ACA is not the solution. The overall design and philosophy of ACA is the problem,” said one insurance representative.

The Department of Health and Human Services recently proposed that the plans be written for three months maximum, instead of the one year currently allowed. The policies would not be renewed. Insurers would also have to tell customers they may face tax penalties for having the plans — to close a loophole in the ACA, they contend.

Translation: The plans allow for healthy people to stay out of regular ACA-compliant health plans — which is where Obama wants them. That’s why the administration is putting further limits on the short-term plans.

The short-term plans, which healthy young people are using because they’re cheaper, temporary and only for things they really need, are keeping them out of the regular pool.

“The proposed rule is terrible,” said Joseph Graves, an insurance salesman in Nashville, Tennessee. “It points out, clearly, that the law is flawed.”

Overall, he told LifeZette, the new proposal benefits insurers — not consumers.

“Carriers win because the healthy, who should be allowed to buy protection based on what they qualify for, will be in the same pool as a 350-pound insulin diabetic, who has sleep apnea, gout, and smokes. Would it be fair if you had to pay the same car insurance rate as your brother, sister, friend, or neighbor who has had two driving-under-the-influence violations, three speeding tickets, and an accident that totaled over $100,000 in claims paid?”

Lower-risk cases should be rewarded with lower premiums, he said.

“It’s not Republican versus Democrat. It is about being forced to pay for a product with services that are not needed,” said Joseph Graves.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

Short-term insurance plans cost less than others, but they typically do not cover maternity care, prescription drugs, or pre-existing medical conditions.

“You can’t just buy one of these if you become pregnant, for example, or have just learned you have a serious health problem,” said Dr. Jerry Kominski, a health policy and management professor at the UCLA Fielding Public School of Health in Los Angeles, California.

Short-term providers can also refuse coverage to anyone they think will run up bills; they can also limit the amount they will pay out. Those two practices are banned under the ACA.

“People buy these policies probably not fully understanding they’re not getting comprehensive coverage, and then they have to pay the penalty. And if anything serious goes wrong, they have very limited coverage,” Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University who has studied the ACA, said in a Kaiser Family Foundation article.

Related: Why You’re Paying More for Care

Graves, who runs I Hate Buying Insurance, an insurance agency, said it can still be less expensive to buy a short-term plan and pay the penalty than to buy an ACA plan. He has many clients who will not purchase ACA plans as long as other options are available, solely because they want freedom of choice.

“It’s not Republican versus Democrat. It is about being forced to pay for a product with services that are not needed,” Graves said. He said healthy people will seek other plans, including short-term plans and sharing ministries.

[lz_ndn video=31026729]

“The ACA pools are flooded with the sick,” Graves explained, calling the proposed plan “absolutely awful.”

He said HHS is trying to force everyone into the ACA with the proposal to apparently slow down the growth of premiums by having the healthier consumers spread the risk of the sick.

“Consumers are not going to benefit,” Graves said. “Forcing everyone into ACA is not the solution. The overall design and philosophy of ACA is the problem.”

The change won’t limit availability of short-term policies — just the duration, noted Kominski.

“During open enrollment, people will have to decide ‘Do I remain uninsured, pay the tax penalty, and buy a short-term policy during the year for three months of coverage and nine months of being uninsured — or do I buy an ACA-compliant policy?'” he said. “Likewise, for someone who loses their job during the year, they can buy a short-term policy for three months of coverage, but when that runs out, they risk being uninsured until the next open enrollment period.”

The proposal is subject to a 60-day public comment period after it’s officially published. After that, regulators can vote to adopt the rules, revise them, or refuse to approve the plan.