On Open Enrollment Day, Trump Floats Axing Obamacare’s Individual Mandate

US President Donald Trump delivers remarks as he welcomes Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore to the Oval Office before a series of meetings between the two at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 23 Octob... US President Donald Trump delivers remarks as he welcomes Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore to the Oval Office before a series of meetings between the two at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 23 October 2017. The meeting comes less than two weeks before President Trump makes an extended trip to the Asia-Pacific region. Credit: Shawn Thew / Pool via CNP - NO'WIRE'SERVICE - Photo by: Shawn Thew/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning suggested using the tax reform bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, echoing comments Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) made earlier this week.

A spokesperson for Cotton confirmed to TPM that the senator spoke with Trump about the proposal over the weekend and that Trump indicated support for the measure.

Cotton told reporters Monday night that he is leading a push to use the tax bill to nix the individual mandate, working with the House and Senate committees leading the process. The senator said that several lawmakers are supportive of the provision.

The senator claimed that repealing the individual mandate would save the federal government $300 billion over 10 years without causing any Americans to lose their health insurance. As TPM has pointed out, the Congressional Budget Office found in 2011 that nixing the individual mandate would save the government money because fewer people would purchase health insurance. Healthy people would leave the insurance market, causing premiums to rise and leaving insurance coverage unaffordable for sicker Americans, that same report found.

Trump published the tweets on nixing the individual mandate on the first day of open enrollment during his presidency. The administration plans to promote open enrollment by sending notices and text messages encouraging people to enroll or re-enroll and staffing call centers at the same level the government did last year. However, the administration has axed partnerships with outside groups to promote open enrollment and has made significant cuts to the Health and Human Services’ overall budget for Obamacare promotion and education.

Latest DC

Notable Replies

  1. Just as Hair Drumph’s actions are meant to try to erase everything Obama, the next D admin’s mission will be to restore everything eliminated and more. Please Dog, when will this national nightmare cease?

  2. swine: NOUN: 1. a pig. 2. a person regarded by the speaker with contempt and disgust: "what an arrogant, unfeeling swine!"

  3. What. An. Asshole. Sure, let’s cut corporate taxes to give the “middle class” a break, then make them pay more for medical insurance. His logic is flawless…keep tweeting, moron, Mueller don’t care.

  4. For crying out loud, you can’t change the terms and conditions of ACA three times a day and establish predictability in the God Damn market!!

    Is there ANYONE with a brain working in the White House these days??

    (That’s a rhetorical question, we all know the answer)

  5. Karma’s a bitch, middle / lower class Trump Voters…

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

16 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for feathered_head Avatar for jackster Avatar for epicurus Avatar for tigersharktoo Avatar for losamigos Avatar for thepsyker Avatar for irasdad Avatar for mark_in_queens Avatar for 543runhard Avatar for darrtown Avatar for benthere Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for maricaibo Avatar for canyoncountry Avatar for natasbob Avatar for maximus Avatar for heretofore Avatar for carolson

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: