While speaking at an opioids summit at the White House today, President Trump talked about the U.S. adopting stricter on penalties for people who illegally distribute drugs, including capital punishment. "Some countries ... have the ultimate penalty and they have much less of a drug problem then we do," Trump said, adding:
"If you shoot one person, they give you the death penalty. These people can kill two, three thousand people and nothing happens to them."
Roughly 3.2 million people will likely switch from Affordable Care Act coverage into newly expanded “association health plans,” according to an analysis from the consulting firm Avalere. Most of them would be leaving the ACA’s marketplace for small businesses, rather than for individuals.
Why it matters: The repeal of the individual mandate will draw a few million people out of ACA coverage. Separate administrative actions, a few million more. And the 3 million from association health plans, on top of that. Each of those policies may not be fatal to the ACA on their own, but they're cumulative.
The federal response to the opioid epidemic is entering a new phase of intensity. Both the Trump administration and members of Congress announced new steps yesterday that could make a real difference in both law enforcement and public health.
The Justice Department announced that it will try to join a lawsuit, led by several state and local governments, against drugmakers and distributors that sell or sold prescription opioids.
