Biden orders markets for ACA plans reopened
WASHINGTON — President Joe 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. He also took steps to restore coverage mandates that had been undermined by his predecessor, including protecting those with preexisting 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, 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.
Biden used Thursday’s appearance at the White House to begin shoring up health care programs and policies that have been critical to a Democratic resurgence. Perhaps no policy is as important to him as the Affordable Care Act, which he helped secure as President Barack Obama’s vice president. President Donald Trump tried and failed to overturn the law, then weakened it with executive actions and rules, including making it easier for people to buy cheap, shortterm plans that are not required to cover preexisting medical conditions.
“The best way to describe them: to undo the damage Trump has done,” Biden said of his actions during a brief signing ceremony in the Oval Office. “There’s nothing new that we’re doing here, other than restoring the Affordable Care Act and restoring the Medicaid to the way it was.”
Under the order Biden signed Thursday, a new “special enrollment period” will open Feb. 15 and run through May 15. A senior administration official said the reopening would be accompanied by the kind of patient outreach — paid advertising, direct outreach to consumers and partnerships with community organizations and advocacy groups — that was abandoned by the Trump administration.
Typically, Americans in the 36 states that rely on the federal marketplace can buy insurance only during a six-week period in the fall, a restriction meant to encourage people to hold coverage even when they are healthy. The sign-up period for this year’s coverage ended in mid-December, with enrollments only slightly higher than they were last year. But the Trump administration barely advertised it.
Biden’s executive actions on abortion immediately rescind what Democrats call the global “gag rule” — often called the “Mexico City Policy” — which bars taxpayer funding for international nonprofit organizations that provide abortion counseling or referrals.
The president’s order will also direct federal agencies to review policies, including waivers granted to states, that discourage participation in Medicaid, the public health insurance program for poor and disabled people.