President Trump signs executive order to dismantle ‘Obamacare’

In an opening salvo against “Obamacare,” President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday night that appears aimed squarely at the undoing the health care law’s unpopular requirement that individuals carry insurance or face fines.

The order directs federal agencies to stop issuing regulations that would expand the law’s reach. And it directs them to grant waivers, exemptions and delays of provisions in the Affordable Care Act that would impose costs on states or individuals, potentially including the law’s penalties on people who remain uninsured – a key provision. The order also says federal agencies must allow states greater flexibility in carrying out the health care programmes.

“It’s a sign that the Trump administration is looking to unwind the law in every way it can administratively,” said Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-partisan clearing-house for information and analysis about the health care system.

One distinct possibility is for the government to find new ways to grant exemptions from the law’s unpopular requirement that people who remain uninsured pay fines, if deemed able to afford coverage. For example, Republican lawmakers in Congress have proposed an exemption for people in areas where only one insurer offers coverage – currently about a third of US counties.

The executive order may not have much impact for 2017, since government rules for this year have already been incorporated into contracts signed with insurance companies.