President Trump today signed an executive order that could undermine Obamacare as it looks to make it easier for Americans to buy bare-bones health insurance plans.
The order aims to allow small businesses to group up and buy cheaper health plans, known as association health plans, with less regulations and fewer benefits for their employees.
The newly signed order also removes limits on short-term health insurance plans, according to a report from The Hill.
Both plans do not have to follow ObamaCare rules, including minimum benefits standards, and experts fear that the plans could pull healthier people away from ACA plans and leave a sicker pool of individuals, according to the report. This could result in a significant premium spike for Obamacare plans and more insurers looking to exit the market.
Democrats have responded to the order in similar manners to the GOP’s failed attempts at repealing and replacing Obamacare earlier this year.
“Having failed to repeal the law in Congress, the president is sabotaging the system, using a wrecking ball to singlehandedly rip apart our health care system. If the system deteriorates, make no mistake about it, the blame will fall squarely on the president’s back,” Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement, according to The Hill.
The order also received criticism from the American Hospital Association, which said it could put patients at risk and destabilize the market, according to the report.
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