Trump will sign the order -- designed to "promote healthcare choice and competition" -- at 11:15 a.m. EDT, the White House said.
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The order is expected to place limits on short-term health insurance plans and encourage cheaper and more loosely regulated health plans aimed at younger, healthier people. By allowing healthier people to seek coverage elsewhere, experts worry that could leave less healthy participants on the hook for the difference.
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Within a year, this would kill the market," said Karen Pollitz, who worked for former President Barack Obama's Health and Human Services Department.
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The new association definition could cover small businesses, trade groups, unions and self-employed individuals. Under such a change, associations would not have to meet ACA benefit requirements or cover a minimum percentage of employee healthcare costs.
With associations, health care providers can effectively choose the most desirable participants, allowing the healthy to make the switch to save money -- and potentially shutting out the less healthy.
"No one healthy is now going to sign up in the ACA risk pool, because they have this cheaper option," Deep Banerjee, a health care analyst at S&P Global Ratings said.
The Hill reported that Sen. Rand Paul is expected to be in attendance at the unveiling of the executive order on Thursday. For months, he has pushed a presidential order -- arguing that allowing small businesses to band together to buy insurance gives them leverage to lower premiums.
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