Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

New Trump Executive Healthcare Order: 3 Fast Facts

New Trump Executive Healthcare Order: 3 Fast Facts

With President Trump's attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act officially squashed, he's taking matters into his own hands with a new Trump executive healthcare order. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Trump is expected to sign an executive order next week to force several agencies to rewrite their regulations in regards to health insurance, and the effects could be disastrous for some individuals.


1. The Biggest Changes With the New Trump Executive Healthcare Order Will be to Associate Health Plans

First of all, one of the biggest changes will be for "associate health plans," or AHPs. AHPs are basically special insurance plans that can be sold through organizations that represent self-employed individuals, small employers, or members of voluntary organizations.

While AHPs have been around for a while, the ACA imposed regulations to make sure that they covered as much as other plans offered to small businesses and individuals. These "essential" services include maternity care, mental health services, and prescriptions.

Conservatives like Rand Paul argue that AHPs tend to be too expensive for many individuals and small businesses that can't afford plans offered by the ACA, and therefore they shouldn't be governed by the same rules and regulations. The executive order would attempt to deregulate these AHPs, and allow them to be sold across state lines.

2. People With Pre-Existing Conditions Could be Affected the Most

If you have a pre-existing condition, you could be greatly impacted by the executive order. AHP plans tend to be cheaper and more desirable to healthy, young individuals and small businesses, potentially drawing them away from larger pools of established healthcare plans. This would leave sicker and older individuals remaining in high-risk pools, causing costs to skyrocket. The soaring prices would likely cause insurance carriers to exit from certain markets altogether, leaving many people out to dry with limited options.

If Paul gets his way, AHP plans would also be able to select participants based on their health histories, thus ensuring that they wouldn't have to legally cover sicker individuals.

Experts are warning about the dire consequences of the order. "If you cherry-pick the healthiest small businesses or individuals, you essentially could destroy the regulated markets that are left, because they end up covering just sicker people," Mila Kofman, executive director of the health exchange program in Washington, D.C., told the Huffington Post

3. There Is a Roadblock for Trump

In addition to regulations imposed by the Affordable Care Act, there's another law that Trump may have more difficulty getting around. The 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, doesn't currently cover AHPs, and Trump would have to find a way to reinterpret the law in order for the plans to be sold across state lines without having to adhere to the state's guidelines. Legal experts believe that the law would be a pretty big hurdle to overcome, and any legislation attempting to change the law would be met with a valid legal challenge.

However, even with ERISA in place, an executive order could still have a huge impact on the insurance market and how they operate, which is a cause of great concern.

People are dubious, and rightly so:

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

H/T: Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Twitter

More from People

Donald Trump
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Slammed After Saying He's 'Not Joking' About Running For A Third Term

Republican President Donald Trump was ridiculed for insisting he was "not joking" about running for a third presidential term, which would violate the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment, stating a President cannot be elected beyond a second term.

In an NBC interview Sunday morning, Trump maintained his allies were pushing for a third term for the Trump administration.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
Fox News

Trump Ripped For Bonkers Answer After Being Asked To Define What A 'Woman' Is

President Donald Trump was called out after he was asked by a conservative reporter at the end of Women's History Month to give his definition of a "woman"—only to show that he doesn't even know his own talking points let alone those of the wider GOP.

This past Friday, Trump attended the swearing-in ceremony for interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Habba, where he also took questions.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Karoline Leavitt
C-SPAN2

Karoline Leavitt Gives Mind-Boggling Update On Signal Group Chat Scandal—And Critics Are Furious

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was called out after she dismissed reporters' questions amid revelations that Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was invited into a Signal chat with high-level Trump administration officials, particularly Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussing military strategy surrounding war strikes in Yemen.

Lawmakers from both parties have increased their calls demanding an investigation into the Signal scandal. The latest push came from Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, who on Monday sent a letter to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard calling for an independent probe.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kids in a classroom
Maskot/Getty Images

Tennessee Senate Passes Bill Requiring Schools To Teach Students To Get Married And Have Kids

The Republican-led Tennessee Senate has passed a bill that requires schools to teach children a "success sequence" that emphasizes the importance of getting married and having children.

If approved by the state House, the “Success Sequence Act” would require schools to teach students about the purported “positive personal and societal outcomes” of following a prescribed sequence of life events: earning a high school diploma or equivalent, entering the workforce or pursuing higher education, getting married, and then having children.

Keep ReadingShow less
Two people flirting
Photo by Jed Villejo on Unsplash

People Break Down Telltale Signs That Someone Thinks You're Attractive

Let's be honest: Some of us are pretty clueless when it comes to flirting.

Whether it's knowing how to flirt or suspecting when someone is flirting with us and acting on it, we fumble our way through the experience and might only occasionally find our way to a date or relationship.

Keep ReadingShow less