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Biden is also directing federal agencies to “reconsider rules and other policies that limit Americans’ access to health care, and consider actions that will protect and strengthen that access.” In other words, rolling back the ways Donald Trump limited and undermined access to health care, for starters. That includes reconsidering Medicaid work requirements, after the Trump administration gave 12 states waivers allowing the work requirements.
The other order, as expected, repeals the global gag rule that, under Republican presidents, prevents any organization getting U.S. global health funding from even mentioning abortion as an option to patients. Beyond that, the “memorandum also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to take immediate action to consider whether to rescind regulations under its Title X family planning program.” Those Trump-era Title X regulations significantly defunded Planned Parenthood and other organizations that include abortion in their services provided.
That’s great news, although “It won’t just be like flipping a switch to get all the providers of the Title X program back in,” according to Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson—it will take time for them to reapply and rejoin the program.
As is the case pretty much across the board, big change will require Congress to act to strengthen and expand the Affordable Care Act … or more. But these actions will begin to undo the damage, and that’s worth a lot. Biden absolutely needs to ignore the dishonesty of the editorial boards and keep pushing forward.
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