Affordable Care Act
Trump's position paper on health care reform and the ACA
Timeline
| 2016.05.04 | What Trump says his presidency would look like, including a wall design, an immigration ban on Muslims, an audit of the Federal Reserve, and plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act by the end of his First 100 Days. nytimes.com (See also First 100 Days, Immigration, Mexico Wall, Mexico) |
| 2016.11.18 | Trump's top adviser Jared Kushner's brother, Josh, founds the health care startup Oscar, which makes money on the state exchanges for individual insurance established by the Affordable Care Act. huffingtonpost.com (See also Jared Kushner, Conflicts of Interest) |
| 2016.11.28 | The potential impact of Trump's First 100 Days on health care scientificamerican.com (See also First 100 Days) The president-elect could initiate a massive transformation of health care—including birth control funding. But without a replacement plan ready, lawmakers may hesitate to repeal Obamacare |
| 2016.12.20 | The Wall Street Journal reports on the impact of Trump's win on many rural counties that voted for him and where uninsured rates have dropped dramatically under ACA. blogs.wsj.com |
| 2016.12.22 | Enrollment in health insurance plans under the ACA was 6.4 million, up 400,000 from last year; states with the most people selecting coverage all voted for Trump. abcnews.go.com |
| 2017.01.09 | Five moderate Senators break with GOP to try to delay ACA repeal until a replacement is fleshed out. bloomberg.com (See also Health Care) |
| 2017.01.11 | Congress is likely to prioritize repealing the Affordable Care Act, tax reform, infrastructure, reversing Obama regulations, and immigration during Trump’s first 100 days thehill.com (See also First 100 Days, Infrastructure, Immigration) |
| 2017.01.13 | Asian Americans express fears about the Trump administration at an Asian Americans Advancing Justice panel in Orange County, CA. ocregister.com (See also Asian Americans, Immigrants, Health Care) |
| 2017.01.13 | House Speaker Paul Ryan says in a town hall meeting that the ACA is “collapsing,” but enrollment in ACA plans for 2017 is running well ahead of the figure for 2016. latimes.com (See also Paul Ryan) |
| 2017.01.15 | GOP Congressman Mike Coffman holds an Obamacare Q&A at a library in his home district and 150 people show up; he leaves early, and reportedly through the back door. teenvogue.com |
| 2017.01.20 | Trump signs executive order instructing heads of executive agencies to cooperate as fully as possible while the Affordable Care Act is repealed. pbs.twimg.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.01.22 | Experts say the effect of Trump's executive order on the ACA is unclear, but that it could undermine the stability of health insurance markets medpagetoday.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.01.22 | With executive order, Trump moves swiftly to unwind as many elements of the Affordable Care Act as possible. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) Practical implications are hard to decipher however. |
| 2017.01.25 | This is a transcript of ABC News anchor David Muir’s interview with President Trump. abcnews.go.com (See also First 100 Days, Mexico Wall, NAFTA, Trade, Jeff Sessions, John Kelly, DACA, Voter Fraud, James Mattis, Mike Pompeo, Iraq, Infrastructure, Muslim Immigration Ban) This is a transcript of ABC News anchor David Muir’s interview with President Trump on Jan. 25, 2017. |
| 2017.01.26 | Presidential historians agree that Trump's executive orders do little more than advance Trump's main policy goals. Instead, it will be up to the president’s Cabinet officials and Congress to follow through on most of the actual policymaking. newsweek.com (See also First 100 Days, Mexico Wall, Muslim Immigration Ban) |
| 2017.01.26 | The White House orders federal health officials to halt all advertising and outreach activities for critical last days of 2017 ACA enrollment period. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Health and Human Services) Supporters of the health-care law accused Trump of cynically undermining its marketplaces. |
| 2017.01.26 | White House abruptly halts Obamacare ads according to sources at DHS and on Capitol Hill politico.com (See also First 100 Days, Department of Health and Human Services) |
| 2017.01.30 | American people living with HIV/AIDS who get their healthcare through Obamacare, Medicaid, Medicare or Ryan White -- or some combination of these programs -- are rightly scared about what is going to happen to their coverage amid Trump's and Republican's plans to repeal Obamacare and remake Medicare and Medicaid. thebody.com (See also LGBTQIA) |
| 2017.02.02 | After promising immediate repeal and replacement, top Republicans are wavering in public on how to do so. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.02 | US president describes a world ‘in trouble’ in speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, amid a growing number of disputes with foreign leaders theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days, Muslim Immigration Ban, Australia, Mexico, Johnson Amendment, Attacks on Civil Liberties, LGBTQIA, Department of the Treasury, Russia, Yemen, Iran, Mike Pence) |
| 2017.02.04 | Obamacare supporters show up in huge numbers to voice concerns over repeal during Republicans town halls. politico.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.06 | Trump and his Republican allies are rapidly recasting their ambitions for a rapid-fire repeal, with many lawmakers facing tough questions from constituents. mobile.nytimes.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.06 | Trump voters will be hit the hardest by his promises on dismantling the Affordable Care Act and embarks on trade wars with Mexico and China. nbcnews.com (See also First 100 Days, Trade) |
| 2017.02.07 | A survey finds one-third of people surveyed don’t know Obamacare and Affordable Care Act are the same thing, especially among groups most likely to be affected by the repeal of the health law. nytimes.com (See also First 100 Days, Assaults on Facts) |
| 2017.02.09 | Republican Senator Mike Lee admits GOP health plan must remain secret because people would probably rather keep Obamacare. nymag.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.09 | Republicans in Idaho tried to design a better plan than Obamacare — and failed washingtonpost.com |
| 2017.02.10 | Tom Price, who has campaigned relentlessly to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and his nomination process has also been plagued by allegations of insider trading, is confirmed as US health secretary. theguardian.com (See also First 100 Days, Tom Price, Department of Health and Human Services) |
| 2017.02.13 | Hardliners are set to demand that leadership move to repeal the Affordable Care Act now, even if that means a replacement has to wait. politico.com |
| 2017.02.15 | The Trump Administration is taking its first steps to put its imprint on the Affordable Care Act, reversing plans to withhold tax refunds this year from Americans who flout an insurance requirement in the law. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days, Taxes) |
| 2017.02.16 | A Michigan-based health care analyst creates chart that breaks down the number of people who could potentially lose insurance after a full repeal of Obamacare by congressional district, so people can get a sense of the impact in their own community. time.com |
| 2017.02.22 | A new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows 45 percent of registered voters approve of Obamacare and 45 percent disapprove as compared to 52 percent disapproval before Trump took office. politico.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.23 | At rowdy town halls, Republicans contradict their past statements on Obamacare and distance themselves from Trump’s agenda. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.23 | The votes needed to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a robust replacement are now just as hard to reach in the House as the Senate. nytimes.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.23 | Vice President Mike Pence defends Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and tells CPAC attendees that "America’s Obamacare nightmare is about to end." washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days, Mike Pence) |
| 2017.02.24 | According to two new surveys, support for Obamacare is at an all-time high, as Republican leaders continue to press the case for repeal amid fierce resistance at many town halls. cnn.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.24 | As new details of the GOP plan emerge, Republican lawmakers expect their Obamacare replacement will result in fewer Americans covered by health insurance, a fact that’s likely to increase blowback amid growing support for the program. bloomberg.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.02.27 | At a meeting with health insurance CEOs, Trump urges them to work together to "save Americans from Obamacare". washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.03.07 | Republicans' Affordable Care Act replacement plan would defund Planned Parenthood and restrict abortion coverage. vox.com (See also Health Care, First 100 Days, Women, Abortion, Planned Parenthood) It would keep poor women on Medicaid from getting health care at Planned Parenthood, and cut off affordable abortion coverage for many privately insured women. |
| 2017.03.08 | Top U.S. doctors' organization and several hospital groups come out strongly against a Republican plan to overhaul the Affordable Care Act. reuters.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.03.10 | The GOP plan backed by Trump to overhaul the Affordable Care Act clears its first hurdles in Congress, but its chances for passage look uncertain and top Republicans are scrambling to bring disgruntled conservatives aboard. reuters.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.03.13 | Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and White House Budget Director Mike Mulvaney react to the Congressional Budget Office's estimate on the Republican health care bill, saying the CBO "has it wrong." c-span.org (See also Department of Health and Human Services, Tom Price, Mick Mulvaney) |
| 2017.03.14 | At least a dozen Republican senators, alarmed by a nonpartisan report showing millions would lose insurance under the GOP healthcare plan, warn that the bill wouldn’t become law without fundamental changes. wsj.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.03.15 | National poll finds there is very little support for the American Health Care Act, with only 24% of voters supporting it, and 49% opposed. publicpolicypolling.com (See also First 100 Days) |
| 2017.03.21 | Trump makes false claim that doctors are leaving the profession because of the Affordable Care Act. apnews.com (See also First 100 Days, False Statements) |
| 2017.03.21 | Trump warns House Republicans that they'll lose their jobs if they don't support his health care bill. apnews.com (See also Health Care, First 100 Days) |
| 2017.06.06 | Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Sheild will pull out of Ohio's Health Insurance Marketplace at the end of this year, blaming the uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s-endorsed GOP plan to replace the ACA, as the impetus for the move. daytondailynews.com (See also Health Care) |
| 2017.06.13 | Trump told Republican senators that the House GOP health-care bill which he had then celebrated, was now “mean” and he expects the Senate to “improve” the legislation considerably. washingtonpost.com (See also Health Care, Hypocrisy) |
| 2017.06.14 | In recent national polls, only about 29 percent of Americans support the American Health Care Act. Even in the most supportive state, deep-red Oklahoma, only about 38 percent of voters support the law. nytimes.com (See also Health Care) It is the most unpopular piece of major legislation Congress has considered in decades, even more unloved than TARP (“the bailout”), and much more unpopular than the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. |
| 2017.06.22 | Former members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, who resigned last week in protest, say the Senate's new health care proposals will be devastating to people with the disease. buzzfeed.com (See also Health Care) "It will kill people — that's not hyperbole. There will be some people who will die from this." |
Assessments
- 2016.11.29 The Washington post reports on the likely impact on the ACA of Trump's pick for Secretary of health and Human service, Tom Price, who is a longtime critic of ACA. (Washington Post)
- 2016.12.27 The Washington Post reports on coal country Trump voters who now fear losing the ACA provision that allows longterm coal miners to receive disability benefits for black lung disease. (Washington Post)