HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP EXEC ORDERS: “President Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order Thursday [10-12-17] to initiate the unwinding of the Affordable Care Act, paving the way for sweeping changes to health-insurance regulations by instructing agencies to allow the sale of less-comprehensive health plans to expand.
Mr. Trump, using his authority to accomplish some of what Republicans failed to achieve with their stalled congressional health-care overhaul, will direct federal agencies to take actions aimed at providing lower-cost options and fostering competition in the individual insurance markets, according to a Wall Street Journal interview with two senior White House officials. The specific steps included in the order will represent only the first moves in his White House’s effort to strike parts of the law, the officials said.
By boosting alternative insurance arrangements that would be exempt from some key ACA rules, the change would provide more options for consumers. But health-insurance experts say it could raise costs for sicker people by drawing healthier, younger consumers to these alternative plans, which could be less expensive and offer fewer benefits.”
-Louise Radnofsky, Stephanie Armour, and Anna Wilde Mathews, “In Start to Unwinding the Health Law, Trump to Ease Insurance Rules,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 11, 2017 09:16pm