Press secretary Sean Spicer said President Trump was ordering agencies to “ease the burden of Obamacare as we transition from repeal to replace”.
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Just one thing, the order didn’t really specify anything.
The order on Obamacare urged government departments to “waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation” of provisions that imposed financial burdens on states, companies and individuals, AP reported.
Republicans have also said they want to loosen the rules around ObamaCare’s requirements on what healthcare services an insurance plan must cover. He has said he is almost done crafting a new health care plan to replace President Barack Obama’s coverage expansion that will provide “insurance for everybody”.
Republicans claim a “whitelash” against President Barack Obama, who has an approval rate of 57 percent.
Trump was sworn in as the 45th U.S. President at an inauguration ceremony held Friday morning at Capitol Hill, overshadowed by occasional rain and violent protests.
Meanwhile, in an earlier meeting after his election in November, Trump told Obama that he would keep some essential parts of the law, including the clause that doesn’t allow insurance companies to charge people with preexisting conditions more for their coverage.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and several other GOP senators and representatives have said subsidies paid under the ACA must be continued after repeal to avoid chaos in the individual health insurance market.
The new administration also suspended the Obama administration’s planned reduction of mortgage insurance premium rates, a move that had been meant to make buying a home more affordable. Another estimate found savings of $483 million in a single year.
Haislmaier cautioned, however, that the executive order is “the beginning of the process”.
The order also looks to give states more flexibility and control over their health care markets and to allow insurers to offer policies across state lines, long held Republican ideals.
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“It’s a sign that the Trump administration is looking to unwind the law in every way it can administratively”, said Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan clearinghouse for information and analysis about the health care system.
