Step-by-Step

President Trump said yesterday, “You saw what we did yesterday with respect to health care…It’s step by step by step. That was a big step yesterday.”
 
Exactly, it was a big step in sabotaging the law. Thanks to Politico, here’s a look at President Trump’s step-by-step effort to undermine the ACA, increase costs for Americans, and destabilize the markets:  
 
  1. Ending CSR Payments
“Many insurers said they had priced their 2018 plans higher in case Trump followed through on threats to nix the payments, which are worth an estimated $7 billion this year, but others may now withdraw from Obamacare’s marketplaces just weeks before the next enrollment period starts.”
 
  1. Executive order—Rewriting the rules to entice healthy people away from Obamacare
“[Yesterday]’s order directs federal agencies to rewrite rules to allow the interstate sale of so-called association health plans, which would be exempted from some of Obamacare’s strict coverage requirements… But the plans could charge far less for a skimpier set of benefits, attracting healthier enrollees while potentially leaving Obamacare plans with higher-cost customers.”
 
  1. Lifting Obama-era limits on short-term health plans
“The Trump administration may also roll back Obama-era limits on short-term insurance plans sold outside the Obamacare markets. These skimpy stopgap policies don’t insure pre-existing conditions and often exclude many benefits that Obamacare plans must cover.”
 
  1. Rolled back Obamacare’s rule mandating birth control coverage
“The administration announced last week it would allow virtually any employer to claim a religious or moral objection to Obamacare’s contraceptive coverage mandate. The action was justified as protecting individuals and groups from being forced to violate deeply held beliefs
 
  1. Gutted funding for outreach, marketing of Obamacare coverage
“The Department of Health and Human Services slashed Obamacare’s advertising budget by 90 percent to $10 million and also cut federal grants to enrollment assistance groups by 40 percent. That means far fewer on-the-ground resources to help people sign up for coverage. The administration also banned regional HHS officials from participating in enrollment events sponsored by outside groups.”
 
  1. Shortened the enrollment season
“Open enrollment in 2018 plans is only half as long as in previous years, compressed from 12 weeks to six. HealthCare.gov — the main sign-up site for more than half the country — will also be shut down for 12 hours almost every Sunday during the enrollment season.”
 
  1. Threatened to pull subsidies
“For months, Trump has warned he will scrap a key Obamacare subsidy that helps insurers pay medical bills for low-income customers. Many insurers say they priced their 2018 plans higher in case Trump follows through on this threat.”
 
  1. HHS media office attacks on the law
“News releases from the department reinforced congressional efforts to repeal Obamacare and have highlighted parts of the country in which the law has struggled. HHS also produced videos critical of the health care law.”
 
  1. Deleted useful information about the law
“Some links about Obamacare were removed from the HHS website, according to The New York Times. The removed content included information about how people could get care through their Obamacare plans.”
 
 

Issues: