Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Administration Keeping Executive Order To Repeal Individual Mandate In Its Back Pocket
The Washington Post: White House Seeks To Weaken ACA’s Individual Mandate, With Executive Order As Backup Plan
White House officials have prepared an executive order that would weaken the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that taxpayers demonstrate proof of insurance, according to people briefed on the matter, suggesting they will issue it if congressional Republicans cannot achieve the same goal through the tax reform process. President Trump supports abolishing the insurance requirement, called the individual mandate, but he cannot eliminate it unilaterally because it is enshrined in law. Given that several Republican bills aimed at unraveling the ACA have failed, Trump and his deputies are now seeking other ways to scale back the requirement for health-care coverage. (Eilperin and Sullivan, 11/6)
The Hill: Trump Preparing Executive Order To Scale Back ObamaCare's Individual Mandate: Reports
The White House is reportedly preparing an executive order to weaken ObamaCare’s individual mandate in the event congressional Republicans don’t include the measure in the tax-reform bill. According to the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, the draft executive order would seek to broaden the “hardship exemptions” to the requirement that taxpayers must demonstrate proof of insurance or pay a fine. (Weixel, 11/6)
