Donald Trump reveals plan for executive order to bypass Congress and gut Obamacare

'I will be using the power of the pen to give great HealthCare to many people – FAST,' says President in early morning tweet

President Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office

(Andrew Harrer/Getty)

Donald Trump has confirmed he plans to use an executive order to undermine some of the key elements of Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

US media had reported draft details of an order which would effectively create loopholes for millions of people to avoid the insurance rules set by the act, known as Obamacare.

Mr Trump said he would “be using the power of the pen” to act on his desired healthcare reforms, “since Congress can’t get its act together”.

He has failed repeatedly in his attempts to force through legislative efforts to repeal Obamacare.

He tweeted on Tuesday morning, at about 6.30am Washington time: “Since Congress can’t get its act together on HealthCare, I will be using the power of the pen to give great HealthCare to many people – FAST”.

The order is expected to exempt association health plans – insurance schemes bought by small enterprises clubbing together – from the need to comply with core elements of Obamacare, according to reports.

That could include covering essential health benefits like maternity care and prescription drugs.

According to Vox, it may also broaden a category of plan, called short-term insurance, that is already exempt. Those plans generally have limited benefits and remain in force for less than a year. During the Obama administration, the availability of short-term coverage was restricted.

But Larry Levitt, of the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation, said: "There are likely to be legal challenges that could slow this effort down."

Association plans "kind of went away with the ACA, and now the idea seems to be to re-create them," said Jeff Smedsrud, a health insurance marketing entrepreneur. "It's not clear what they would really look like."

Additional reporting by agencies