How Trump’s executive order would weaken Obamacare

President Donald Trump took health care reform into his own hands on Thursday, signing an executive order after months of failed attempts at legislation by Republicans in Congress.

The executive order aims to make lower-premium health care plans available to more Americans.

“This is going to be something that millions and millions of people will be signing up for and they’re going to be very happy,” Trump said before signing the order. “This will be great health care.”

Here’s what you should know about the executive order.

What does the executive order do?

It directs Trump’s administration to work toward an increase in the use of association health plans, which would allow small business owners to join together in groups to purchase health insurance for themselves and their employees. That could mean employers could possibly form groups across state lines, officials said.

It also seeks to expand use of short-term limited duration insurance, which is typically meant for people between jobs, for example, who just need coverage for a short amount of time. Those types of plans wouldn’t be subject to “costly Obamacare mandates and rules” an outline from the White House explained.

The third aspect of the order is for the administration to look at options — referred to as health reimbursement arrangements — for employers to use pre-tax income to help workers pay for medical expenses.

Basically Trump is looking to find ways to run insurance options that go around the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. This is expected to lead to cheaper plans with scaled-back coverage.

“It directs the Department of Health and Human Services, the Treasury, and the Department of Labor to take action to increase competition, increase choice and increase access to lower-priced, high-quality health care options,” Trump said. “And they will have so many options.”

What now?

Administration officials were directed to explore these options, but said it isn’t likely that any new regulations will be put in place before the end of the year. The changes Trump hopes to put in place may not even be finalized in time to affect coverage in 2019.

“This executive order is the start of a long process as the gears of the federal bureaucracy churn, not the final word,” Larry Levitt of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation told The Associated Press

Here are some other thoughts about what happens next from Levitt on Twitter.

Court challenges to Trump’s new order are expected.

What happens to Obamacare?

Experts worry that using loopholes to skirt Obamacare rules will destabilize the market for remaining customers.

But the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land for now, and the president said he still wants to see it gone.

“We're going to also pressure Congress very strongly to finish the repeal and the replace of Obamacare once and for all,” Trump said. “We will have great health care in our country.”

You can read the White House summary of the executive order here.

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin