Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined nearly two dozen colleagues on Monday to urge the federal government to reverse several proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act marketplace. [Health News Illinois]

In their letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the 22 attorneys general said the changes could cause up to two million Americans to lose health insurance coverage for the coming plan year.

The proposed rules require all exchanges, whether state-based or federally-facilitated, to have a 45-day open enrollment period that closes on December 15. The federal government also seeks to eliminate a special enrollment period for low-income individuals.

Another proposal would allow health insurance plans to deny enrollment to anyone who has missed a premium payment once, regardless of when the missed payment occurred. 

The federal government also plans to exclude coverage for gender-affirming care as an essential health benefit.

The attorneys general argued the rules would create “new hurdles that will significantly restrict eligibility, diminish enrollment, and increase consumers’ health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs.”

“These proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act are unnecessary and disturbing,” Raoul said in a statement. “Everyone in this country deserves access to lifesaving health services and these changes could cause hundreds of thousands of Americans to be uninsured.”

Illinois will launch a state-based exchange later this year.

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