By: Sheryl Gay Stolberg & Abby Goodnough | Jan. 28, 2021 | New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Biden on Thursday ordered the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces reopened to give people throttled by the pandemic economy a new chance to obtain coverage, and he took steps to restore coverage mandates that had been undermined by his predecessor, including protecting those with pre-existing medical conditions.
Thursday’s orders also took aim at Trump-era restrictions on Medicaid, especially on work requirements imposed by some states on poor people trying to obtain coverage. Separately, Mr. Biden moved toward overturning his predecessor’s restrictions on the use of taxpayer dollars for clinics that counsel patients on abortion, both in the United States and overseas….Read Full Article Here >>
Even though such plans tend to turn away people with a history of illness and have left others mired in debt, Joel White, a Republican strategist who focuses on health policy and has sometimes been critical of Mr. Trump, questioned the effort to quash short-term policies.
“If your coverage just got a lot less affordable because you’ve lost your job and lost your income, the last thing we should be doing is taking away an option that offers an affordable choice,” Mr. White said, adding that some consumers “don’t want all the bells and whistles; they might be 60 years old and don’t want maternal health coverage.”