Congress Can’t Let Mr. Trump Kill Obamacare on His Own
Fed up with failed attempts in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Trump on Thursday took matters into his own hands, signing an executive order that could significantly damage the health insurance market and harm millions of people.

This editorial has been updated to reflect news developments.

Fed up with failed attempts in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Trump on Thursday took matters into his own hands, stopping payments to insurance companies and signing an executive order that could significantly damage the health insurance market and harm millions of people.

Mr. Trump carried out his threat to stop paying insurers to lower the out of pocket costs for low-income and middle-class Americans. The loss of this money, expected to be $9 billion next year, will force insurers to raise premiums and stop selling policies in some parts of the country. Because most people who buy coverage on A.C.A. exchanges also receive subsidies to keep their premiums affordable, this change would actually cost the government money — about $2.3 billion more next year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Earlier in the day, the president directed his administration to effectively create an alternative health insurance system that does not include the safeguards of the A.C.A. and could sabotage that 2010 law, one of his predecessor’s biggest accomplishments. The president claims that this will help people obtain cheaper insurance. In reality, it most likely will force insurance companies to abandon the A.C.A.’s insurance exchanges and ultimately precipitate a collapse of an important part of Obamacare.

The executive order is made up of two main changes: to expand the use of short-term insurance policies and to make it easier for professional and trade associations to sell health coverage to members across the country. Officials at the Departments of Health and Human Services, the Treasury and Labor will now come up with a rule after seeking public comment over the next several months.