Washington - President Donald Trump signed
an executive order on Thursday to weaken the Obamacare law and
make it easier for Americans to buy bare-bones health insurance
plans, but the action faces possible legal challenges.
Stymied in Congress by the failure of Senate Republicans to
pass legislation to dismantle Democratic former President Barack
Obama's signature domestic policy achievement, Trump's order
marks his administration's latest effort to undermine the law
without action by lawmakers.
Trump's order was his most concrete step to undo Obamacare
since he took office in January after promising voters he would
dismantle the 2010 law.
"The cost of the Obamacare has been so outrageous, it is
absolutely destroying everything in its wake," he said at a
signing ceremony in the White House.
Trump's order gives people more access to plans that do not
cover essential health benefits such as maternity and newborn
care, prescription drugs, and mental health and addiction
treatment. Obamacare requires most small business and individual
health plans to cover those benefits.
Trump wants to make it easier for small businesses to band
together as associations across state lines to buy cheaper, less
regulated health plans with fewer benefits.
The order also seeks to change an Obama-era limit on the
time span people can use short-term health insurance plans,
which are cheaper but cover few medical benefits. Those plans
are currently limited to three months.
'WRECKING BALL'
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of
"using a wrecking ball to single-handedly rip apart our
healthcare system."
"Having failed to repeal the law in Congress, the president
is sabotaging the system," Schumer said in a statement.
Republicans, despite controlling the White House and both
chambers of Congress, have failed since Trump took office to
make good on their seven-year promise to repeal Obamacare, which
they have called a government intrusion into Americans'
healthcare.
Trump said the order was "only the beginning" and that his
administration would take additional actions. He said he would
"pressure Congress very strongly to finish the repeal and the
replace of Obamacare once and for all."
Experts questioned whether Trump has the legal authority to
expand association health plans.
The action could open Trump to legal challenges from
Democratic state attorneys general, who have said they will sue
Trump if he tries to destroy Obamacare, a law that brought
health insurance coverage to 20 million Americans.
Experts said the association health plans could attract
young, healthy people and leave a sicker, more expensive patient
pool in the individual insurance markets created under
Obamacare, driving up premiums.
Conservative groups and lawmakers have cheered Trump's
order. Republican Senator Rand Paul, who said he worked with
Trump for months on the order, opposed the Senate's most recent
attempt to overhaul Obamacare because he said it left too many
of Obamcare's regulations and spending programs in place.
Shares of hospitals and insurers focused on the Medicaid
health insurance program for low-income Americans have been
particularly volatile this year due to efforts to roll back
Obamacare.
Hospital stocks edged lower on Thursday morning, with HCA
Healthcare down 1.4 percent and Tenet Healthcare
down 2.3 percent. Medicaid insurers also fell with Centene
off 2.6 percent.
Trump has taken a number of other steps since January to
weaken or undermine Obamacare. He has not committed to making
billions of dollars of payments to insurers guaranteed under
Obamacare, prompting many to exit the individual market or hike
premiums for 2018.
The administration also halved the open enrollment period,
which begins November 1, and slashed the Obamacare advertising and
outreach budget.