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States and employers are getting a lot more leeway in the types of health insurance they can offer residents and workers, ensuring the likelihood that differences in access and affordability of coverage will continue to widen in the name of expanding consumer choice and reducing regulatory burden. But observers are divided over whether the Trump administration's moves last week to allow states to sidestep certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act through new 1332 waiver guidance and allowing employers to pay for workers' individual market premiums through health reimbursement arrangements will ultimately harm the marketplace and its enrollees. (Livingston, 10/27)

A federal judge in a Friday hearing appeared skeptical of a push by advocacy groups to stop the implementation of short-term insurance plans as designed by the Trump administration. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon of the D.C. Circuit didn't seem impressed by the groups' arguments that Trump administration actions were undermining the individual insurance markets. He indicated he would not rule for several weeks on their request for a preliminary injunction to stop the plans, which only last up to 12 months and cover less than the full plans under the Affordable Care Act. (McIntire, 10/26)

A federal judge on Friday slammed a request to halt the Trump administration’s expansion of short-term health insurance plans during oral arguments in Washington, D.C. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, appeared sympathetic to the administration’s argument that the expanded plans would not affect Obamacare marketplaces since they will largely appeal to young and healthy people who now can't afford coverage. (Cancryn, 10/26)