Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Individual Mandate May Be On Chopping Block, Trump Aide Hints
The Trump administration may no longer enforce a rule requiring individual Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty if they do not, a senior White House official said on Sunday. Speaking on ABC's "This Week" program, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, said President Donald Trump "may stop enforcing the individual mandate." (Lange and Clarke, 1/22)
Such a move would take the teeth out of former President Barack Obama鈥檚 health-care law and could destabilize insurance markets, analysts say. It was not clear from Conway鈥檚 remarks whether President Donald Trump would try to use his executive authority to make the change, which would be much faster than writing new regulations or waiting on lawmakers. (Tracer, 1/22)
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated in December that repealing the mandate would cause ObamaCare premiums to increase by 20 percent. 鈥淲ere the Trump administration to effectively repeal the mandate, it would certainly be sued,鈥 law professor Timothy Jost wrote in Health Affairs on Friday. (Sullivan, 1/22)
President Donald Trump's aide, Kellyanne Conway, in an interview broadcast Sunday expressed confidence that people covered under ObamaCare will continue to have coverage after the law is repealed and replaced. "President Trump has said that people will not go without coverage. And he means that," she said on "Sunday Today." (Savransky, 1/22)