Congress is debating the American Health Care Act, a plan to repeal and replace parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Act does not make changes to the Essential Health Benefits (EHB), ten categories of coverage that all new plans in the individual and small group markets must include in their plans. But the President and congressional leaders have pledged to change or repeal the EHB requirements through future regulatory or legislative action. Most ACA replacement proposals eliminate the EHB and have little to no federal benefit requirements.

In a new article published on The Commonwealth Fund’s To The Point site, CHIR experts Dania Palanker, JoAnn Volk, and Justin Giovannelli look at the individual health insurance market before the EHB and the financial risk consumers will bear if we return to a market without benefit protections.