In an effort to bring the United States back on its feet from the COVID19 Pandemic, President Biden is undoing just some of the policies former President Donald Trump laid down during his time as president. The new administration plans to seek the reversal of multiple policies that Trump espoused. President Trump signed off as president.
At the beginning of his term in office, Biden signed an executive order aiming to bring back access to healthcare.gov. This website is available to all Americans who can receive insurance through the government exchange. The first 2021 enrollment started on Nov 1, 2020 and closed Dec 15, 2020. The enrollment period reopened from Feb 15 to May 15, 2021 in the current administration, as many people were laid off from work and lost insurance in the pandemic.
In addition, the Biden-Harris administration has taken necessary steps to maintain and strengthen programs such as the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and the protection of women’s health across the country. Healthcare is a significant need for people of all ages, and millions of Americans depend on the ACA and Medicaid to stay afloat. Some of the rules that federal agencies have re-examined are
- Policies that undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions, including complications related to COVID-19;
- Demonstrations and waivers under Medicaid and the ACA that may reduce coverage or undermine the programs, including work requirements;
- Policies that undermine the Health Insurance Marketplace or other markets for health insurance;
- Policies that make it more difficult to enroll in Medicaid and the ACA; and
- Policies that reduce affordability of coverage or financial assistance, including for dependents.
When it comes to women’s health — women of color, of low income, and in the LGBTQ+ community are denied access to reproductive health care. Biden is looking to expand health care to women who have been subjected to such denial. The new administration “supports women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United States, as well as globally.”
Among the other executive orders signed, Biden has reversed Trump’s “Mexico City Policy” that banned U.S. funding from being sent to other international countries. Mexico City policy was restored in January 2017 when Donald Trump took office, after it was canceled by Obama in January 2009. The financing helped non-profit organizations outside the U.S. issue abortion counseling. Biden is sending a message to women around the world that women’s rights matter.
On his campaign trail, Biden made promises to help families during these hard times. “If I have the honor of being president I promise you I will lead, I will do everything I can do to take responsibility and ease this burden on you and your families,” Biden said. “I will put your family first that will begin with a dramatic expansion of health coverage and bold steps to lower health care costs.”
Appealing to his base and trying to win over oscillated voters, Biden specified those bold steps by saying that “we are going to lower premiums for people buying coverage on their own by guaranteeing that no American ever has to spend more than 8.5 percent of their income on health insurance and that will be lower for lower-income people. We are also going to further reduce cost by making it less expensive.”
These changes that the new administration is making couldn’t have come at a better time. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from the virus, with many not having health care to support them. The Biden-Harris administration is trying to take the necessary steps to ensure Americans want to turn things around for the better.
