The following article by Aditya Krishnaswamy, Rhonda Rogombe and Madeline Twomey was posted posted on the Center for American Progress website August 30, 2018:
The Trump administration, with help from its Republican allies in Congress, has worked tirelessly to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. The administration has eliminated the individual mandate penalty; expanded access to short-term junk plans and association health plans; and halted cost-sharing reduction payments. The Center for American Progress estimates that the average marketplace enrollee will pay about $1,000 more for health insurance next year than they should due to the mandate repeal and the short-term plan rule alone.
The Trump administration’s efforts to undermine the ACA have taken many forms. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report highlights the administrations’ efforts to decrease enrollment in 2018. In 2017, for instance, the administration shortened the open enrollment period by 50 percent—from 90 days to 45 days—and cut advertising funds by 90 percent, from $100 million to $10 million. More recently, the administration slashed the budget for enrollment assistance, cutting ACA navigator funding by more than 70 percent, from $36 million to $10 million. A longer enrollment period and greater advertising and navigator funding are critical to expanding access to marketplaces and assisting individuals looking to obtain coverage through the complex health care market.
In response to this federal-level sabotage, several states have passed legislation in order to limit its effects on their insurance markets and mitigate the increases in premiums on the ACA exchanges.