AP Photo/Eric Gay
The health insurance industry may not love all of the Affordable Care Act's regulations — but it's not interested in a proposal from Sen. Ted Cruz to let them sell plans that don't comply with those rules, as long as they also sell plans that do.
The proposal would "lead to widespread adverse selection and unstable health insurance markets," according to an analysis from America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's leading trade group. "Patients with pre-existing conditions … would potentially lose access to comprehensive coverage and/or have plans that were far more expensive."
Why it matters: Cruz has pushed back against charges that his proposal would ultimately erode the ACA's most popular consumer protections — but that's exactly what insurers are saying it would do. And if the insurance industry expects the proposal to lead to higher premiums for sick people, it's a pretty good bet the Congressional Budget Office will come to the same conclusion.