The Beginning of the End of Obamacare

WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week President Donald Trump's three executive orders have placed Obamacare on life support. He first ended the Obamacare mandate that required employers to provide contraception and abortion drugs and devices. His second executive order opened up the marketplace for insurance companies to compete for business by allowing small employers to participate in group plans and allowing individuals to purchase insurance across state lines. The third executive order effectively kills Obamacare by immediately stopping the illegal use of taxpayer dollars to cover other people's insurance bills.

"From the beginning, Obamacare has been disastrous. This week marks the beginning of the end for Obamacare," said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. Prior to issuing his third Obamacare executive order, a federal court ruled that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services payouts for insurance benefits is an illegal expansion of the executive branch's authority. A president cannot use taxpayer dollars to write a $7 billion dollar check without approval from the U.S. House budgeting procedure. Now is the best time for President Trump to take this action. The enrollment period for Obamacare opens up in less than three weeks and participants need to know now that the government is legally banned from footing the bill for their health benefits. In addition, Trump's executive order lifts the limits on short-term health insurance plans, allowing the plans to last as long as 12 months and be renewed. The executive order also directs expanding the ability of small businesses and other groups to band together to buy health insurance through what are known as association health plans. "The government does not have the right to force businesses and individuals to pay for the drugs and procedures that murder fellow Americans. And no president has the authority to write a blank check using taxpayer dollars that bypassed the constitutionally mandated budgeting process. President Trump has effectively moved Obamacare to hospice. It is only a matter of time before Obamacare implodes," said Staver. President Trump gave the legislature months to figure out a plan, and those efforts failed. Obamacare was already imploding to its authors' economic misunderstanding and flaws inherent in the legislation. That failure rests squarely on the back of its namesake, President Obama. President Trump promised to end Obamacare. That is what he was elected to do and he is staying faithful to his words on the campaign trail. Obamacare has increased healthcare costs, limited access to quality care, trampled religious freedom, and forced Americans to fund the killing of innocent children. I applaud President Trump for taking the lead to dismantle one of the worst pieces of legislation in our history," said Staver.