Trump Orders Changes To Obamacare

In his first executive order, President Trump on Friday evening directed government agencies to scale back as many aspects of the Affordable Care Act as possible. The one-page order (click here to read), which Mr. Trump signed in a hastily arranged Oval Office ceremony shortly before departing for the inaugural balls, gave no specifics about which aspects of the law it was targeting. But its broad language gave federal agencies wide latitude to change, delay or waive provisions of the law that they deemed overly costly for insurers, drug makers, doctors, patients or states, suggesting that it could have wide-ranging impact, and essentially allowing the dismantling of the law to begin even before Congress moves to repeal it.

What does it mean? It does NOT take away anyone’s existing healthcare coverage. It does NOT end any specific programs or initiatives.　 However, it could lead to many changes. Click here for a NYTimes analysis. Click here for a summary legal analysis from LegalNewz.

President Trump earlier declared that the ACA replacement will "get private insurance companies to take care of a lot of the people that can afford it." Trump said that he was nearly finished with a plan to replace the ACA, which was being designed with the goal of "insurance for everybody," although he declined to offer specifics. Click here to view the report. Trump said last Wednesday that he will likely pursue Medicaid block grants. To view the interview on Fox, click here.