The new Trump health care program might stop enforcing individual mandate. An official at the White House said on Sunday, Jan. 22, that the Trump administration might no longer enforce the rule which requires individual Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty if they do not. This came shortly after President Donald Trump signed the executive order concerning the 2010 health care law on his first day in office.
Health care experts previously speculated that Trump would expand exemptions from the individual mandate. On Friday, Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order urging US government agencies not to issue regulations that would expand the reach of the 2010 health care law or ObamaCare. White House chief of staff Reince Priebus added its purpose is to minimize the economic burden of the ObamaCare.
Presidential senior counselor Kellyanne Conway revealed the plan on the individual mandate on ABC's program "This Week." Senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, Larry Levitt said Trump could just remove the individual mandate by redefining "hardship" in the law. "The Trump administration could virtually end the individual mandate all on their own by using their authority to grant hardship waivers," Levitt said according to NBC News. He added that there is no definition of hardship in the law.
On another statement in CBS program, "Face the Nation," Conway previously explained that those with health insurance under ObamaCare would not lose their coverage while the Trump health care is still under development. "For the 20 million who rely upon the Affordable Care Act in some form, they will not be without coverage during this transition time," she said according to Reuters.
Trump said he wanted health care to be available for all. He added that he wanted to keep some parts of Obamacare, like allowing young adults to be covered under the insurance of their parents. However, the specific details of the Trump health care program are still unclear up to now.
