Trump Administration Wants to Stabilize Health Markets but Won’t Say How
A Trump administration official said Wednesday that the administration wanted to stabilize health insurance markets, but refused to say if the government would promote enrollment this fall under the Affordable Care Act or pay for the activities of counselors who help people sign up for coverage.

WASHINGTON — A Trump administration official said Wednesday that the administration wanted to stabilize health insurance markets, but refused to say if the government would promote enrollment this fall under the Affordable Care Act or pay for the activities of counselors who help people sign up for coverage.

The official also declined to say whether the administration would continue paying subsidies to insurance companies to compensate them for reducing deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for low-income people. Without the subsidies, insurers say, they would sharply increase premiums.

The administration, the official suggested, will do the minimum necessary to comply with the law, which Mr. Trump has called “an absolute disaster” and threatened to let collapse.

“I don’t think we can force people to sign up for the program,” the official said.

The official said the Trump administration had not set any numerical goals for sign-ups under the health care law, and the official did not know if the administration would do so. President Barack Obama used such goals to motivate a small army of counselors, “navigators” and assistants who helped millions of people sign up for insurance in the last four years.