As we’ve said before, there is a great deal the Trump Administration can do to change health programs without Congress repealing or changing the Affordable Care Act. Last week, HHS adopted a final rule aimed at stabilizing the health insurance marketplaces that were set up by the ACA. Some of the most alarming impacts of the new rule include:

• Cutting the annual open enrollment period in half, despite concerns expressed in comments that limiting enrollment to a 45-day period in November/December would be inadvisable. (States like Washington with their own exchanges are allowed to extend the open enrollment period as a transitional measure.)
• Making it harder for people to enroll in coverage at other times of the year if their household circumstances change (this is optional for state exchanges)
• Allowing sale of skimpy plans that increase people’s out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles
• Reducing financial assistance to help afford coverage
• Removal of the federal oversight of provider networks that makes sure people can find a doctor who takes their insurance

This new rule could dramatically affect people who do not get insurance through work and buy it on the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges. Read this summary and this in-depth analysis of this rule and the impact it could have on the insurance market.