Donald Trump will re-enter the White House in two months with a Republican trifecta, which could set the stage to weaken or repeal the Affordable Care Act.
The former president is a longtime opponent of Barack Obama's signature achievement, and some high-ranking Republicans have made clear they would like to roll back the law's Medicaid expansion, raise the uninsured rate, undo patient protections and increase premium costs, reported NPR.
"The Republican plans — they don't say they are going to repeal the ACA, but their collection of policies could amount to the same thing or worse," said Sarah Lueck, vice president for health policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "It could happen through legislation and regulation. We're on alert for anything and everything. It could take many forms."
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GOP lawmakers weren't able to repeal Obamacare during Trump's first year as president in 2017, despite having majorities in both the House and Senate, and the president-elect and his Republican allies have not made clear what changes they would make to the law's popular protections.
"Trump will do whatever he thinks he can get away with," said Chris Edelson, an assistant professor of government at American University. "If he wants to do something, he'll just do it."
Subsidies that reduce premium costs are set to expire at the end of next year unless lawmakers extend them, and Trump could make some changes to ACA protections through executive orders from his first day in office.
"The early executive orders will give us a sense of policies that the administration plans to pursue," said Allison Orris, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "Early signaling through executive orders will send a message about what guidance, regulations and policy could follow."
Weakening ACA's protections could cause costs to explode for many Americans covered under the law.
"It's definitely a terrifying thought," said Dylan Reed, a 43-year-old Colorado man who suffers from the autoimmune disease scleroderma. "I would probably survive. I would just be in a lot of pain."
