Capitol Hill Briefing 

# Is Obamacare Now Optional? New Rule Expands Consumer Protections in Short-Term Health Plans 

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Date and Time 

August 8, 2018 12 - 1 PM EDT 

Location 

2044 Rayburn House Office Building 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring **Chris Pope**, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute; **Michael F. Cannon**, Director of Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute; moderated by **Jeff Vanderslice**, Director of Government Affairs, Cato Institute. 

The Trump administration has reversed an Obama-era rule that exposed consumers with short-term health insurance plans to medical underwriting after they got sick. The Trump rule restores consumer protections in short-term plans, which are exempt from ObamaCare’s costly benefit mandates and hidden taxes. Does the new short-term plans rule create a “freedom option” for those who have had enough of Obamacare? Does if free religious conservatives from having to purchase coverage they find morally objectionable? Will it usher in a new era of innovation that will make access to care more secure for the sick? Does the new rule sabotage or threaten the stability of Obamacare? Come listen to one of the nation’s leading scholars discuss short-term health plans and the potential of innovation to revolutionize health insurance.

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