On Thursday, President Biden signed executive orders to reopen HealthCare.gov for a special enrollment period to help people get coverage and remove barriers to enrolling in Medicaid. These executive orders build on the strong foundation of the Affordable Care Act just as Americans who are facing an ever-worsening public health crisis need help the most. Coverage shows President Biden is committed to delivering on his health care promises and reversing the health care sabotage agenda of Trump and Republicans. These executive orders are important first steps to making sure Americans have more affordable health coverage and access to better care.
Washington Post: Biden Reopens ACA Enrollment for Three Months in Opening Bid to Extend Health Coverage. “The directive, part of a series of executive actions the president is taking during his first days in office, is a down payment on his pledge to make health care more accessible and affordable and a sign of his determination to rehabilitate the landmark law after four years of Republican battering. Those goals have taken on more urgency as 25 million people have been infected with the coronavirus and millions of others have lost jobs.” [Washington Post, 1/28/21]
New York Times: Biden Moves to Expand Health Coverage in Pandemic Economy. “President 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, and he took steps to restore coverage mandates that had been undermined by his predecessor, including protecting those with pre-existing 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.” [New York Times, 1/28/21]
- New York Times: “Perhaps No Policy Is as Important to [Biden] as the Affordable Care Act, Which He Helped Secure as President Barack Obama’s Vice President.” Mr. 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 J. 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, short-term plans that are not required to cover pre-existing medical conditions. [New York Times, 1/28/21]
AP: Biden Opens ‘Obamacare’ Window For Uninsured As COVID Rages. “President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered government health insurance markets to reopen for a special sign-up window, offering uninsured Americans a haven as the spread of COVID-19 remains dangerously high and vaccines aren’t yet widely available. Biden signed an executive order directing the HealthCare.gov insurance markets to take new applications for subsidized benefits, something Donald Trump’s administration had refused to do.” [Chicago Tribune, 1/28/21]
USA Today: Biden Signs Executive Action to Reopen Obamacare Enrollment Amid COVID-19, End Gag Rule. “President Joe Biden on Thursday took initial steps to expand health care coverage and reverse some of the policies of former President Donald Trump, including directing that people be given a new chance to sign up for government-subsidized care and lifting restrictions on abortion and family planning services.” [USA Today, 1/28/21]
The Hill: Biden Signs Health Care Executive Actions to ‘Undo The Damage’ Caused by Trump. “President Biden on Thursday signed two executive actions focused on health care, describing the directives as a necessary effort to ‘undo the damage’ done by former President Trump…The president repeatedly insisted Thursday that the directives did nothing but reverse the Trump administration’s policies and restore the policies of the Obama administration.” [The Hill, 1/28/21]
CNN: Biden Signs Executive Order to Reopen Affordable Care Act Enrollment. “It’s Biden’s first move toward delivering on his campaign promise to bolster the landmark health reform law that he championed as vice president. And it comes as more Americans could be facing the loss of coverage because of the pandemic-fueled economic downturn.” [CNN, 1/28/21]
Modern Healthcare: Biden to Reopen ACA Marketplace, Revisit Work Requirements. “President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered HHS to create a special enrollment period to allow people to sign up for a health plan through Affordable Care Act marketplaces and reexamine policies like Medicaid work requirements that make it more difficult for individuals to access or afford coverage.” [Modern Healthcare, 1/28/21]
The Upshot: Biden’s Obamacare Do-Over: Another Chance to Sign Up, This One More Publicized. “In December, the last Obamacare enrollment period under the Trump administration closed. Now that the Biden administration has arrived, it’s trying a do-over. The renewed effort reflects the Biden team’s view that the Trump administration did too little to help people find coverage, despite a public health crisis and waves of job losses. Although insurance sign-ups were up a bit compared with last year, the growth did not match the increase in need.” [New York Times, 1/28/21]
New York Times: Biden’s Health Care Moves. “Biden’s orders still matter, because Trump’s actions mattered. Biden will try to strengthen protections for people with medical conditions. He will also create a new three-month sign-up period for Obamacare, starting next month, aimed partly at people who lost their jobs during the pandemic. The most recent sign-up period was in the fall.” [New York Times, 1/29/21]
- New York Times: “Perhaps Most Significant, the Biden Administration Plans to Promote the Sign-Up Period Heavily.” “Perhaps most significant, the Biden administration plans to promote the sign-up period heavily, through advertisements, email and other outreach, according to my colleague Margot Sanger-Katz, who’s been covering Obamacare for most of its existence. ‘Biden’s people think the Trump people bungled the regular enrollment period,’ Margot told me.” [New York Times, 1/29/21]
The Health 202: HealthCare.gov Will Now Be Open During Tax Season.“This special sign-up period could help the Biden administration start reversing incremental declines in ACA enrollment. Over the course of the Trump administration, the number of people buying coverage on HealthCare.gov gradually eroded. Biden, who has made boosting marketplace enrollment a top goal, said yesterday that ‘basically the best way’ to describe his action is that it is intended “to undo the damage Trump has done.” [Washington Post, 1/29/21]
- The Health 202: “Biden’s Health Care Order Puts Medicaid Work Requirements Under the Microscope.” “Biden’s health-care order puts Medicaid work requirements under the microscope. Biden’s executive order on health care also directs federal agencies to reexamine rules that have made it more difficult for people to enroll in Medicaid or that could undermine protections for people with preexisting conditions.” [Washington Post, 1/29/21]
Talking Points Memo: Biden Signs Exec Order ‘Restoring the Affordable Care Act’ After Trump’s Sabotage Attempts. “During its first two years, the Trump administration gutted money for advertising and for community groups that helped people enroll, seeing such an effort as wasteful. Biden’s executive order to reopen enrollment for a three-month period, extending from Feb. 15 and May 15, may help people who have lost coverage in the past year due to the pandemic. Enrollment will be open, however, to those seeking health insurance for any reason, in any of the 36 states that use Healthcare.gov.” [Talking Points Memo, 1/28/21]
