AUSTIN – Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation commended the Trump administration for its final rule allowing more companies to form and join Association Health Plans (AHPs), which will grant many more Americans relief from the unaffordable Affordable Care Act.

“As a result of Obamacare, small business owners have increasingly struggled to find affordable health insurance options for their employees and their employees’ families,” a White House fact sheet explains. “AHPs offer a more affordable option for small businesses by enabling them to band together and be regulated like a large employer when they buy insurance.”

The rule allows AHPs to form under either the old rules or the new rules – whichever pathway works best for the employer, the fact sheet adds.

“Association Health Plans are all about freedom – the freedom to choose with whom you associate or assemble, the freedom to choose how you spend your money and what you spend your money on,” said Dr. Deane Waldman, MD, director of TPPF’s Center for Health Care Policy. “Especially in health care, the federal government has increasingly controlled more of our daily lives. By allowing AHPs, the Trump administration is restoring a measure of freedom that had been taken away.”

“As both TPPF and the Trump Administration recognize, the ACA remains unconstitutional. But, until we have a final resolution from Congress or the Courts, we support the Trump Administration doing whatever it can, in its limited capacity as the executive branch, to improve health care options and outcomes for all Americans,” said TPPF executive director Kevin Roberts.

For more information or to request an interview, please contact Sarah Silberstein[email protected] or 512-472-2700.

Dr. Deane Waldman, MD, MBA is a retired pediatric cardiologist and director of the Center for Health Care Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Dr. Kevin Roberts is executive director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit free-market research institute based in Austin that aims to foster human flourishing by protecting and promoting liberty, opportunity, and personal responsibility.

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