American Thinker: Donald Trump is preparing an executive order that would achieve a long standing goal of insurance reform advocates.
The president’s executive order will reportedly allow individuals to join group plans from out of state. Current law allows companies to sell across state linesn but due to red tape and resistance by state insurance officials, most companies refuse to take advantage of the opportunity. The order would allow consumers to join associations and group health plans located in other states.
ABC News:
Current law allows companies to sell health insurance across state lines, but so far few have offered out-of-state policies. To date, although all states have the authority to do so, only six have enacted across state lines legislation.
And even among states that passed laws to allow out-of-state sales, no insurer has entered the market. Skeptics point out the difficulties that companies face in developing a health insurance product that can be sold in multiple states. They include challenges in building a provider network with competitive rates, regulatory and administrative differences across states and the impact on risk pools that could result in higher premiums for less-healthy individuals.
Proponents of the plan insist it can be done.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, touted the idea Wednesday morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
“I believe President Trump can legalize, on his own, the ability of individuals to join a group or health association across state lines to buy insurance,” said Paul.
While the White House has not offered further guidance on the executive order Trump mentioned, Paul said he’s discussed his proposal with the president.
His plan would expand Association Health Plans, or AHPs, which function by letting small businesses group together in order to buy health insurance. Paul’s plan would amend the 1974 federal law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, under the Department of Labor, and allow non-employer groups, for example alumni associations, to band together and purchase insurance across state lines. Currently, insurance plans are controlled at the state level. MORE
I’d prefer he just sign an E.O. giving the whole nation a waiver from Obamacare. Obama was able to do it for thousands of companies not to mention just changing implementation dates and what not.
Finally!!! Now do agressive Tort Reform and watch health care costs plummet while good health insurance coverage costs drop like a stone. The added benefit to Tort Reform is the ocean of tears coming from lawyers (mostly Democrats) who are watching their Bentleys and Cape Code summer manshions being repo’d. Oh, and the price of manufactured goods, food, vacations, homes will all go down once rationality is brought into legal awards.
imagine an executive order that achieves tort reform.
trumps no lawyer and like everyone else hates them too.
boy would that help the cost of actual health care and not the health insurance scam.
Free market competition and choice?!?! What is this madness?
He also needs to add that Congress cannot exempt itself from Obamacare, too.
This will be a MAJOR step in the right direction. A few years ago, I was able to buy health insurance for my small business (before Obama’s militarization of the IRS audited me out of business) by being an association member. It gave me and my employees the same benefits as big companies at a much lower cost.
The insurance carrier dropped the association eventually and, since insurance is done state by state, we couldn’t find a replacement.
This is a step AWAY from Bernie and the debts single payer and toward a competitive insurance plan. I’ll take it.
Obama went around Congress to alter Obamacare, why not Trump?
Why bother, everybody now has government mandated insurance that doesn’t work and which they can’t afford!
“OMG!!!… Trump is gonna let people have access to cheaper insurance policies!!!… That monster!!!… This is clearly racist!!!”
– Fully expected asshole democrat response
Democrats scratch and claw every step of the way because this is another example if what WORKS. Like cutting taxes across the oars. And they know it.
You prickety pricks are running out of time.
Current law allows companies to sell across state lines??
That’s news to me. The Republicans have been promising us that in the repeal bills? Anyone else find this interesting?
More executive orders that will be changed by the next Democrat President. The States love their Insurance Monopolies.
Best EO to lower costs would be to allow me to NOT BUY ANY INSURANCE ! (to self-insure)
By forcing me to buy insurance, the government has GUARANTEED that prices would necessarily soar. As a benefit, by abiding by our Constitution, my Government would deserve a little less hatred for a change.
Sure! Just like his Executive Order that “abolished the Obamacare mandate”. LOL. When will people understand that the president cannot write or repeal laws via Executive Order?
I think this article has it wrong. I believe you are not allowed to purchase health insurance across state lines. Steven?
I also listened to Rand Paul’s explanation of what he’s talking about and he explained it as a “reinterpretation of an existing law that has been on the books for a while”. So not necessarily an EO creating a law.
I dunno. But this article is not really accurate, in my opinion.
FINALLY SOME COMMON SENSE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you mr president.
“Wouldn’t it be great if the American people when they see their Senators and Congressmen do nothing but break their promises, wouldn’t it be great if they could FIRE THOSE SOB’S ?!!!!!!”
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The whole idea of “group insurance” was making it more affordable for consumers.
Logic dictates that “single payer” would be the opposite of that.
Now all we need to do is make health care personnel widely competent again.