Trump began to make changes to Obamacare: what to expect

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The administration of US President Donald Trump has taken the first steps to make changes to the Obamacare health insurance program.

The draft of the changes was announced by 15 in February, it is mainly aimed at overcoming the problems of insurers and stabilizing the insurance market in 2018, but the proposed steps can hit many consumers, writes CNN.

Trump wants Congress to cancel the Affordable Care Act as soon as possible, but 2 problems stand in the way of this solution: the president promised to create an alternative program, to which people will be able to move on from Obamacare, saving their money and insurance; he must also convince Congress to change the insurance law.

At the same time, the administration of the head of state can make a number of changes to the already existing program without the participation of Congress, which the White House intends to do.

Changes suggest:

Cost increase for consumers: Insurers will have greater flexibility in how much of the cost their plans will cover. For example, silver plans are currently required to cover an average of 70% of the insured's expenses. Giving insurers more freedom will allow them to offer a wider range of packages, with a greater share of the cost paid directly by consumers.

This is likely to lead to a reduction in the amount of insurance premiums, but to higher costs that the patient will have to cover from his own pocket.

The changes also abolish the mandatory verification by the federal government that the insurer has a sufficient network of doctors and hospitals. The Obama administration introduced these checks after the insured began to complain about the insufficient number of specialists and clinics who were ready to accept them as part of the insurance plan.

Shortened registration period for insurance: The change involves reducing the registration period for obtaining insurance by 2 times. Americans will be able to get insurance for 2018 from November 1 to December 15. Those who experience changes that affect their insurance during the year - a change of job, the birth of a child, marriage - will be able to change or sign up for a new plan at another time of the year.

In addition, the new insurance plan will no longer be processed before the client repays any debts on any overdue installments for the previous year.

More time to analyze and select a plan: The proposed changes will oblige insurers to publish their 2018 insurance plans for the year and installments for them in the spring of 2017, which will give consumers more time to choose the package that suits them.

But the proposed insurance reform does not include one of the most controversial changes advocated by insurers: they want to charge older people higher premiums than younger people. Under Obamacare, premiums for older people can be 3 times higher than for younger customers. Insurers require this ratio to be 5/1.

In 2017, 9,2 million Americans signed up for Obamacare.

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