Donald Trump is the U.S. President-elect, and everyone who writes and cares about health insurance and health care policy in America is eager to learn what he and his Republican colleagues in the House and Senate will do with the Affordable Care Act (aka, Obamacare). Will they repeal it? Replace it? Both? Neither? We can reasonably expect that over the next four years, Trump will sign off on some policy changes to Obamacare and millions may lose their health insurance.

Still, the larger Obamacare repeal and replace questions remain, will Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, get to institute his Better Way (to Fix Health Care) outline? Or will professional President Obama hater and Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, get to declare Obamacare a total failure with no need to replace? It's looking increasingly likely that they may both get what they want although not because of any powers of persuasion they have, but because repealing and replacing Obamacare will help some Trump family members and friends.

Before he won the election, Trump said he would repeal and replace Obamacare with "something much better for everybody." He also called Obamacare, "A complete disaster." But after he won the election, he said that there are parts of Obamacare that he likes and wants to keep: allowing children to stay on their parents' health plan up to age 26 and the one about people with preconditions (he meant pre-existing conditions, but he's careless and uninformed). Then last week it was reported that Trump has family and friendship ties to a health insurance start-up, Oscar Insurance, that isn't doing so well. Continue Reading...

Tags: obamacare, Trump, Oscar Insurance