DOL ruling on EASE health insurance plans puts 50,000 Americans at risk of losing coverage

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Pastor Raymond Jesser will be among tens of thousands who may lose access to affordable health insurance as a result of a DOL ruling.

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Tens of thousands of Americans are at risk of losing affordable health insurance through EASE plans after the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) indicated that the plans violate a decades-old federal law on employee health plans. 

The EASE Alliance has allowed people to join a business enterprise linked by Internet use and created a limited partnership through the Loss Prevention Management Services group and other companies. Individuals use software to compile data on their cell phones and computer browsing usage, which is then sold by LPMS. The profits are divided among the members in the business, making them eligible for group insurance.

The DOL says EASE insurance plans violate the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), a federal law on employee health plans. The DOL ruled that individuals on the plan are not “meaningfully employed.”

Raymond Jesser is a pastor in Somerton, Arizona who makes $24,000 annually and found that Obamacare was not an affordable option for his family. He purchased an EASE plan, saying that the insurance is affordable and has given him "peace of mind."

“As a pastor, I couldn’t afford an Obamacare plan for myself and my family. We were basically out of luck. When I discovered the EASE health plans, I was pleasantly surprised to find coverage that was affordable and also flexible,” Jesser said in a video.

Access to affordable health insurance has been particularly important to Jesser during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“EASE has given my family and I peace of mind during these uncertain times. I know that if one of us gets sick and has to go to the hospital or urgent care we will be able to get the care we need and won’t have big payments,” Jesser told the Washington D.C. Business Daily. "Our EASE plan is only $175 a month. Before we had an EASE plan, I went to the urgent care and it cost $200. After we got our EASE plan, my wife went to the same urgent care and it was only a $25 copay.”

The threat of losing his access to affordable insurance as a result of the DOL ruling has left Jesser unsure of how his family would afford health coverage in the future. 

“I don’t know what I would do if the government took away my EASE plan,” Jesser said. “I voted for President Trump, I’m a Republican. I want him to hear me and understand that people like me will not have other affordable options if the government takes away my EASE plan.”

The DOL ruling puts approximately 50,000 Americans at risk for losing access to affordable health insurance through EASE plans.

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