SACRAMENTO, Calif. Jan. 21, 2017 – Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones issued the following statement today after President Donald Trump issued an Affordable Care Act Executive Order:
“President Donald Trump’s Executive Order is directly contrary to his pledge to replace the Affordable Care Act with terrific “insurance for everybody” while repealing the ACA.
The effect of the Executive Order will be to create uncertainty in health insurance markets as to whether the federal government will enforce critically important provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The Executive Order specifically directs federal agencies not to enforce ACA provisions that make sure that all Americans are getting health insurance so that the costs of treating sick and unhealthy Americans are spread across large enough risk pools so as to make it possible for private health insurers to provide health insurance.
Without the enforcement of these ACA provisions, many health insurers ultimately will be forced to withdraw from health insurance markets. Health insurers withdrawal from health insurance markets will decrease competition, make health insurance unavailable, and drive up health insurance prices.
Based on my experience as the regulator of the largest insurance market in the United States, this Executive Order is likely to destabilize health insurance markets across the United States. President Trump’s Executive Order also is contrary to his promise to provide health care coverage to all Americans.”
The California Department of Insurance, established in 1868, is the largest consumer protection agency in California. Insurers collect $288 billion in premiums annually in California. In 2015 the California Department of Insurance received more than 155,000 calls from consumers and helped recover over $84 million in claims and premiums. Please visit the Department of Insurance web site. Non-media inquiries should be directed to the Consumer Hotline at 800.927.HELP or 213.897.8921. Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDD), please dial 800.482.4833.