Stateline, Biden Likely to Help States Increase Health Care Access: December 15, 2020, Last Day to Enroll In or Change Plans for 2021 Coverage and GAO Reports on Breast and Cervical Cancer.

President Donald Trump has spent four years trying to undermine the Affordable Care Act. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to bolster the law and give states new tools to expand coverage.

Among them: more money and additional guides to help people buy health insurance on the ACA exchanges; support for states that want to allow more people onto Medicaid rather than fewer; and a crackdown on health care plans that don’t offer the minimum benefits required by Obamacare.

Unlike the Biden health care idea that has  attracted the most attention — the addition of a Medicare-like public option to the ACA exchanges — Biden could make these changes through executive orders, without congressional approval.

By doing so, advocates hope Biden would reverse the uptick in the rate of Americans without insurance. The percentage of Americans without coverage declined during the Obama administration after implementation of the ACA, but the rate climbed during the Trump administration, even before the economic blowback of the coronavirus pandemic cost 7.7 million Americans their employer-sponsored health insurance.

“It’s critical that we get that turned around,” said Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, which promotes access to affordable health care.

The U.S. Supreme Court could extinguish Biden’s efforts to strengthen Obamacare by striking down the law in a case brought by Republican governors and state attorneys general. But after oral arguments earlier this month, most court observers consider that outcome to be highly unlikely. A final ruling isn’t expected before March.

Assuming the law stands, state officials who support the ACA are looking forward to having an ally in the White House.

COVID-19: Urgent Actions Needed to Better Ensure an Effective Federal Response GAO-21-191, November 30

Public Health: Federal Programs Provide Screening and Treatment for Breast and Cervical Cancer GAO-21-35, October 28