Unsatisfied with their inability to repeal the ACA, the Trump Administration has been steadily working to sabotage the law. Check out this piece for some detailed reporting.
Just some of the steps taken to increase uncertainty and decrease necessary funding:
- The president has signed executive orders weakening the mandates requiring individuals to purchase insurance.
- His administration has ended contracts with firms who have provided in-person assistance to states using healthcare.gov.
- The Department of Health and Human Services has produced videos designed to undermine public support for Obamacare while using funds that were appropriate to help promote the law.
- HHS has reconfigured its website to make enrollment information harder to access.
- There has been little apparent effort to engage non-government partners that have worked in the past to reach uninsured populations.
- And at the end of August, CMS announced that it would slash funds for marketplace outreach by 90 percent.
- Even more recently, the HHS decided not to participate in pre-enrollment events with a health advocacy groups.
- Additionally, HHS announced that it will shut down the federal exchange site for 12 hours for all but one Sunday during the open enrollment season.
Donald Trump’s sabotage of Obamacare is far more sweeping than folks realize https://t.co/mtsDI61yqd
— Sam Stein (@samstein) September 29, 2017
Call the Department of Health and Human Services: 202-205-5445
Script: My name is [NAME] and I’m calling from [ADDRESS]. i’m calling to express my serious concern about the steps that have been taken to push the Affordable Care Act toward failure. I urge the department to strive for the success of this vital program, by taking these measures.
- Restore funding to outreach efforts and navigator programs.
- Participate in pre-enrollment events.
- Restore the full open enrollment window, and reduce the unnecessarily long website maintenance periods.
The American people want to see the insurance market fixed, not sabotaged for political gain. Those who lead government agencies have an obligation to seek out success for their programs, on behalf of we their constituents.