Last October, President Trump surprised many when he announced he would sign an executive order allowing trade associations to sponsor health care coverage that could be sold across state lines. The reason for this decision, noted Trump, is to increase competition and choice as well as improve access to lower-priced, high-quality health care options.
“Large employers can often obtain better terms on health insurance for their employees than small employers because of their larger pools of insurable individuals across which they can spread risk and administrative costs,” said Trump in a news release. “Expanding access to association health plans (AHPs) can help small businesses overcome this competitive disadvantage by allowing them to group together to self-insure or purchase large group health insurance.”