President Trump said that the only health care legislation he would support is one that would send payments directly to consumers — a move that dismisses the widely debated Affordable Care Act premium subsidies.
“The only healthcare I will support or approve is sending the money directly back to the people, with nothing going to the big, fat, rich insurance companies, who have made $trillions, and ripped off America long enough,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media in his all-caps style. “The people will be allowed to negotiate and buy their own, much better, insurance. Power to the people!”
He warned that Congress should not waste its time and energy on anything else.
Democrats engineered the government shutdown to force Republicans to negotiate on extending Affordable Care Act premium subsidies, which the president hinted at in his post.
A deal was crafted to allow a vote on extending the premium subsidies, but Mr. Trump’s latest post could complicate this.
As the subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, health care costs could skyrocket if a new solution isn’t reached before 2026.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said Mr. Trump’s “unhinged ramblings” show that “he still has no idea how anything actually works.”
“Sending people a few thousand dollars while doing nothing to lower healthcare costs is a scheme to help the ultra-wealthy at the expense of working people with cancer or pre-existing conditions,” the senator said in a Tuesday press release.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, pitched a proposal Monday that aligns with Mr. Trump’s demands.
The Louisiana Republican wants to reallocate the money the government would spend on the enhanced subsidies into Americans’ health savings accounts.
“President Trump does not want to continue the enhanced premium tax credit, and he wants something in a consumer-directed account,” he said. “So anybody looking for something which actually can be signed into law has got to look at the kind of direction that President Trump has given.”
The plan does not get rid of the base premium subsidies enacted in the Affordable Care Act.
Mr. Cassidy said he has conversed with some Democrats about his proposal, saying they have been receptive and want to learn more.
The proposal is anticipated to be debated during a Wednesday Senate Finance Committee hearing on rising health care costs.
