Trump Intends To Sign New Executive Order Allowing Increased Sales Of Less Expensive Healthcare Plans, Sources Say.

Published December 27, 2017 | Health Care | FOXBusiness

President Donald Trump is planning to sign a new executive order to make cheaper health care plans more accessible to consumers, a White House official confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday.

The Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Labor are considering rewriting rules so that consumers can buy cheaper plans without all of the ObamaCare mandates. The source told Fox News that the president is aiming to sign the new executive order by January.

Expanding access to less expensive health care offerings has been a consistent goal of the president’s. In October, Trump passed an executive order that directed the administration to look into a number of potential reforms, including allowing employers to form associations and obtain coverage across state lines, expanding the use of short-term limited duration insurance (STLDI) plans and expanding the use of Health Reimbursement Arrangements, or tax-free accounts that allow employers to reimburse employees for medical expenses. The goal of these reforms was to create “valuable and less costly options,” the administration said at the time.

Meanwhile, Republicans eliminated the unpopular individual mandate through the new tax reform bill, which was signed into law last week. The president has said he plans to address health care reform in the coming year, despite multiple failed attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in 2017.