Saying he was acting to “provide millions of Americans with Obamacare relief,” President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week changing enforcement of portions of the Affordable Care Act.
Claiming Democrats “broke the American healthcare system” seven years ago with the adoption of the ACA, the Republican Trump said high premiums and low levels of options for insurers triggered his action. The executive order supports the formation of more “association plans” in which small businesses group together to offer insurance. Critics say those association plans will likely offer lower levels of coverage and exclude people with chronic health issues or with pre-existing conditions or make premiums for such people untenable. They called Trump’s action a move to undermine the ACA and cause its collapse. The order also ends subsidy payments put into the ACA to help individuals afford healthcare premiums.
Montana’s U.S. Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat, called the move to end cost-sharing reduction payments “sabotage.” “This decision will spike health insurance costs that are already way too high,” said Tester.
