Trending News Today: ACA Individual Mandate Fines Loom After Failed Repeal Attempt

Despite protracted discussions, GOP lawmakers have yet to enact a bill to repeal the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This means that several million individuals who believed the law would be repealed will have to pay a fine for being uninsured, according to Kaiser Health News. Uninsured individuals will have to pay a shared responsibility payment on the grounds that they may use the healthcare system without being able to afford it, unless they qualify for an exemption.

Under the revised health law, individuals signing up on ACA marketplaces will face shorter enrollment periods and a tougher time enrolling under special circumstances. Insurers would also be able to create lower-cost health plans in order to stabilize the marketplaces. The Trump administration proposed a plan with changes devised to incentivize insurers to continue selling plans, according to ABC News.

A new law in West Virginia that passed unanimously in the state House and Senate will allow authorized school officials to administer opioid antidotes to students without parental consent, according to the Charleston Gazzette-Mail. Last year, there were 844 overdose deaths, with a vast majority involving opioids. The law would also authorize the antidote to be administered at school functions or other events on school property to avoid opioid-related deaths, according to the article.