“TRUMP SIGNS ORDER PAVING WAY FOR HEALTH-CARE CHANGES”

- Michelle Hackman, The Wall Street Journal

Michelle Hackman of The Wall Street Journal reports on the Executive Order President Trump signed on Thursday that instructs federal agencies to “pursue sweeping regulatory changes to the health-care system.” President Trump stated the order will “direct [departments] to take action to increase competition, increase choice, and increase access to lower-cost, high-quality health-care options.” The order directs agencies to ease rules on association health plans, which will allow small businesses, and possibly individuals, to buy cheaper, less-comprehensive plans outside of the Affordable Care Act, and other actions that provide “lower-cost options and fostering competition in the individual insurance markets,” Hackman writes.
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The Washington Post reports on how a Taliban-linked faction freed an American woman, her husband, and children in Pakistan after a five-year hostage deal, and how the release could “help ease tensions between the United States and Pakistan over efforts against the Taliban.”

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On tax reform, Rep. Lou Barletta writes in Penn Live that “President Donald Trump is leading the fight” for economic revival and Pennsylvanians “finally have a leader in their corner,” whose freer, fairer, and simpler tax code will “reignite the American dream for Pennsylvanian families.”

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Regarding energy, Investor’s Business Daily’s editorial board praises the Trump administration’s decision to end the Clean Power Plan, saying it “marks a major promise kept by President Trump” and that “Americans quietly will get a $33 billion reduction in their future utility bills, thanks to Trump” and EPA Administrator Pruitt.

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And at The Daily Signal, the Heritage Foundation’s James Carafano comments that Kristjen Nielsen, President Trump’s new nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security, is “tough,” “smart,” and “knows the ins and outs of the mission of national security as well as anyone.”