President Donald Trump Signed an Executive Order

President Donald Trump took initiatives to dismantle Obamacare by signing an executive order on January 20, 2017. With his signature, Trump sent a powerful signal on the first day of his presidency that his top priority in the Oval Office would be dismantling the  Affordable Care Act popularly known as Obamacare.

The multi-part executive order stated that the administration's official policy is "to seek the prompt repeal" of the Affordable Care Act but at the same time emphasized that it must continue to uphold the law. The order did not change the law, but could have a significant impact nonetheless.

It directs the secretary of health and human services, as well as other agencies, to interpret regulations as loosely as allowed to minimize the financial burden on individuals, insurers, health care providers and others.

It stressed that agencies can "waive, defer, grant exemptions from or delay implementation of any provision or requirement" of Obamacare that imposes a burden "to the maximum extent permitted by law."

One possible example is the individual mandate, which requires most Americans to be insured or pay a penalty unless they can prove a financial hardship. The Trump administration could try to loosen the criteria for qualifying for a hardship exemption. That way, fewer people would have to pay the penalty, which would be in line with the executive order and the call to provide relief to Americans suffering from the Obamacare's high costs.

In keeping with longstanding Republican beliefs, the order also looks to give states more flexibility and control over their health care markets and to allow insurers to offer policies across state lines.

All of these actions will start to shift the nation's health care rules toward Republican ideas. And it will allow the Trump administration to chip away at the law going forward.

It may mentioned that much of Obamacare has already been set in regulation, which a president does not have the power to nullify and which can take months or even a year or two to change.