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Article snippet: The drive by Senate Republicans to repeal the requirement that most Americans have health insurance is not only likely to discourage people from signing up for coverage during the current enrollment period, but also could result in higher premiums. If repeal is approved, people could opt out of buying policies because they would no longer face a tax penalty and millions could go uninsured. With the Affordable Care Act already weakened by the Trump administration, big drops in enrollment would deal yet another body blow to the law and wreak more havoc in the individual insurance market. Many consumers would likely to turn to the cheap, short-term policies that already skirt provisions of the law and may not cover pre-existing conditions or basic medical needs. “If you get rid of the mandate, you open the floodgates,” said Robert Laszewski, an industry consultant in Alexandria, Va. These plans — sometimes sold by brokers using tactics rife with fraud — were only supposed to last for three months. But President Trump recently signed an executive order that loosened regulations to allow such coverage to be extended up to a year. The proposed repeal of the individual mandate is part of the Senate Republicans’ tax package, and a vote on the legislation is expected this week. Without a mandate, the cost of coverage could increase by double digits on top of already high premiums as healthy people left the market and sick people needing costly care stayed in it. While rep... Link to the full article to read more