The White House has an executive order ready that would gut Obamacare by attacking the individual mandate by extending hardship exemptions.
The Washington Examiner reported, “The Trump administration has prepared an executive order that would unravel Obamacare’s individual mandate but has put it on hold to see whether it might be included in the Republican tax bill instead, a GOP senator told the Washington Examiner. According to the senator, an executive order is sitting with the Office of Management and Budget waiting for approval. President Trump decided to delay the executive order after Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., pushed for the inclusion of the individual mandate repeal in the tax bill, and has been supportive of its inclusion in statements he has made on Twitter.”
Republicans want to include repealing the individual mandate in the tax cut bill because will save nearly $500 million that they can use to pay for tax cuts for the rich. If Republicans can’t repeal the individual mandate in the tax cut bill, Trump is going to sign the executive order. The Trump action would not impact health insurance premiums for 2018 any more than his previous sabotage already has, but it would cause 2019 premiums to skyrocket.
The name of the game isn’t the provision of healthcare, but making Obamacare collapse. The Republican effort to take healthcare away from 20-30 million Americans is relentless, and the only way that it will ever be stopped is if Democrats take back all or part of Congress in 2018.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
