“The irresponsible executive order President Trump issued today will loosen or eliminate critical consumer protections for certain health insurance plans, driving up the costs of premiums and making it harder for people, especially those with pre-existing conditions, to afford coverage. This is yet another dangerous, shameless move by the Trump administration to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and destabilize the health insurance marketplace – but sabotaging the ACA means sabotaging the coverage that millions of women and families rely on. The President is once again trying to advance his political agenda at the expense of our health.

This order comes on the heels of numerous Trump administrative actions designed to undermine the health insurance marketplace, including fostering uncertainty among insurers, which has already driven up 2018 premium costs; shortening the 2018 open enrollment period to only six weeks; gutting the enrollment marketing budget by 90 percent; stripping funding for navigators, the individuals who help people enroll in marketplace plans; barring U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regional directors from joining open enrollment promotional efforts; and shutting down healthcare.gov for 12 hours every Sunday throughout the open enrollment period.

With each of these actions, the Trump administration is working to dismantle the ACA, piece by piece and ultimately, to put health coverage out of reach for millions of women and families – all to score political points. Instead of sabotaging the ACA, President Trump should be encouraging bipartisan efforts in Congress to strengthen our health care system, reassuring health plans they will continue to receive the Cost Sharing Reduction payments upon which they depend, and driving people who need coverage to the health insurance marketplace during the upcoming open enrollment period. Only when our president puts aside partisan politics will we have any hope of connecting all women and families with the quality, affordable health coverage they need and deserve.”