If the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act, Trump’s health care order is not enough to replace it

Simon F. Haeder, Pennsylvania State University The battle over the replacement of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has refocused American attention on the future of the Affordable Care Act. The two factors leave me – a health policy and politics scholar who has closely followed the Affordable Care Act – skeptical about the emergence of a meaningful replacement to the ACA that would expand insurance access should the Supreme Court invalidate the Obama administration’s signature achievement. Trump’s moves on health care President Trump campaigned and entered office with the pledge to “repeal and replace” the ACA. This leaves millions of Americans without coverage and exposed to medical bills should they fall ill. One of the major targets of the Trump administration has been reducing enrollment through the ACA’s marketplaces. Executive order When it comes to Trump’s executive order, the topic that received the most public attention – the guarantee that “Americans with pre-existing conditions can obtain the insurance of their choice at affordable rates” – carries no legal weight nor clear explanation of how it would be achieved or funded.