As promised during his campaign, President Donald Trump just took a big axe to former President Barack Obama's legacy by making significant changes to his signature Obamacare legislation.
According to The Hill, on Friday, the Trump administration made several critical changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including shortening the annual open enrollment period.
Another massive change to Obamacare was that it can no longer cover immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children, which completely reversed former President Joe Biden's expansions and extensions of the program.
Under Biden, the ACA was heavily expanded and as a result, saw a record number of sign-ups during his time in the White House. Trump argues that the expansions simply opened the program up to record levels of fraud.
The enrollment period modification is one of the most impactful changes made to the ACA by the Trump administration .
The Hill noted:
According to the rule, the federal open enrollment period will run from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31. Currently, federal open enrollment ends Jan. 15.
States operating their own health insurance exchanges will have the flexibility to set their open enrollments, so long as they run no longer than nine weeks between the November and December dates.
Coverage for "Dreamers," or those who came to the United States illegal as children and were given protected status, will also be terminated under Trump's new rules for the program.
Trump administration makes sweeping changes to ObamaCare, ends ‘Dreamer’ coverage https://t.co/iRmFWbRJAd via @@YahooNews -- This POS does't understand is that the MORE people without healthcare the MORE people in ER so that people who have heart attaks and such can not get seen.
— Michael F (@VegasMike61) June 22, 2025
Other changes made to Obamacare revolve around "gender-affirming" care rules and procedures.
The Hill added:
The administration also banned plans from covering “sex-trait modification” as an essential health benefit beginning in plan year 2026. The policy will apply to the five states that currently include coverage for gender-affirming care, as well as in states that do not have such coverage expressly mentioned.
The rule changes are expected to save the United States billions by "reining in wasteful federal spending, and refocusing on making health insurance markets more affordable and sustainable for hardworking American families."
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project that an estimated $12 billion will be saved by next year alone.
Not surprisingly, Democrats reacted negatively to the changes.
It'll be interesting to see if there's anything left of the ACA over the coming years under Trump.
