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| Trump signs an executive order on healthcare at the White House in Washington |
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to weaken the Obamacare law and make it easier for Americans to buy bare-bones health insurance plans, but the action faces possible legal challenges.
Stymied in Congress by the failure of Senate Republicans to pass legislation to dismantle Democratic former President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, Trump‘s order marks his administration’s latest effort to undermine the law without action by lawmakers.
Trump‘s order was his most concrete step to undo Obamacare since he took office in January after promising voters he would dismantle the 2010 law.
“The cost of the Obamacare has been so outrageous, it is absolutely destroying everything in its wake,” he said at a signing ceremony in the White House.
Trump‘s order gives people more access to plans that do not cover essential health benefits such as maternity and newborn care, prescription drugs, and mental health and addiction treatment. Obamacare requires most small business and individual health plans to cover those benefits.
Trump wants to make it easier for small businesses to band together as associations across state lines to buy cheaper, less regulated health plans with fewer benefits.
The order also seeks to change an Obama-era limit on the time span people can use short-term health insurance plans, which are cheaper but cover few medical benefits. Those plans are currently limited to three months.
