U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday reopened the nation's online health insurance marketplace for people who cannot obtain coverage through their employers, in a move he said was aimed at undoing "damage" done by his predecessor Donald Trump.
Colette Luke has more.
In the latest blizzard of moves by the president to quickly reverse policy under Donald Trump, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Thursday reopening the nation's online health insurance marketplace for people who cannot obtain coverage through their employers.
PRESIDENT BIDEN: “Basically the best way to describe them is to undo the damage that Trump has done.
There is nothing new that we are doing here other than restoring the Affordable Care Act and restoring Medicaid the way it was before Trump became president.” The order restores access to healthcare.gov and will allow people to sign up for insurance through the government exchange from Feb.
15 to May 15, which is longer than the 6 weeks it had been in the past.
Biden has vowed to shore up programs created under former President Barack Obama’s sweeping 2010 Affordable Care Act, arguing that the changes are urgent because of the health crisis.
Republicans have long opposed the law, criticizing the cost and quality of care as well as extensive government involvement in healthcare markets.
While Trump long promised to repeal and replace Obamacare – he was not able to do either one.
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