The confusion in the wake of President Donald Trump's executive order on Obamacare — encouraging action but requiring nothing — is having a paralyzing effect on consumers and insurers alike.
Obamacare call centers are getting flooded with calls by confused customers seeking advice from insurers and brokers who are just as puzzled, Politico reports.
"We've got a new administration that has thrown a curveball in all this," Michael Stahl, senior vice president for the insurer HealthMarkets told Politico.
"From what I see from our customers … there is a general nervousness. Despite my advice to play by the rules as they are today, sometimes … people kind of freeze and do nothing," Stahl said.
Trump's order encouraged but stopped short of requiring federal agencies to begin the process of dismantling Obamacare. What does that mean? Nobody is really sure, but the message to customers is this — get insurance now; it's harder to take it away if you have it, easier if you don't, Politico reported.
It should make for even better theater for Health and Human Services nominee Tom Price whose Senate confirmation hearing begins Tuesday.
Price, who's already going to field questions regarding owning stock in companies that could have been impacted by legislation he oversaw, can look forward to a string of questions regarding his interpretation of Trump's order, Axios reports.
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