Executive Order on Strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act

On January 28, 2021, President Biden released an executive order titled Executive Order on Strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, stating that a goal of his administration will be to increase the accessibility of high-quality healthcare for every American for the over 30 million individuals who remain uninsured.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Biden directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to consider establishing a Special Enrollment Period for uninsured and under-insured Americans to seek coverage through the Federally Facilitated Marketplace. The Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to reopen the enrollment on healthcare.gov, which serves 36 states, from February 15 until May 15, 2021.

The Executive Order also requires an immediate review of agency actions by the Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and all other executive departments and agencies with responsibilities related to Medicaid and ACA. The agencies must determine if any agency actions are inconsistent with the goal of strengthening Medicaid and the ACA and increasing insurance enrollment.

Additionally, the Order revokes two previous Executive Orders issued by President Trump. The first, Executive Order 13765, the first Executive Order issued by Trump on January 20, 2017 was titled Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal. It set out interim procedures for the anticipated repeal of the ACA. The second Order revoked Executive Order 13813 of October 12, 2017 titled Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States, was issued after the failure of Congress to repeal the ACA through legislation and directed federal agencies to modify how the ACA was implemented, including allowing insurance that was not in compliance with the ACA to be sold.