|
 "If ObamaCare is hurting people, & it is, why shouldn't it hurt the
insurance companies & why should Congress not be paying what public
pays?" Trump, a Republican, wrote on Twitter.
Trump, frustrated that he and Republicans have not been able to keep
campaign promises to repeal and replace Obamacare, has threatened to
let it implode. So far, the administration has continued to make the
monthly subsidy payments, but withholding them would be one way to
make good on Trump's threat.
Republican Senator Rand Paul told reporters on Monday he spoke to
Trump by phone and the president was considering taking executive
action to address problems with the healthcare system.
Paul said he told Trump he thought he had the authority to create
associations that would allow organizations - such as the AARP that
represents retirees, or the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - to offer
group health insurance plans.
The White House declined to comment on matter.
On Capitol Hill, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch said
senators were too divided to keep working on healthcare overhaul
legislation, and that he and other senior Republicans would take
that message to the White House.
"There's just too much animosity and we're too divided on
healthcare," Hatch said in an interview. He said lawmakers could
return to a healthcare overhaul later but for now should pivot to
tax reform.
Some senators were not ready to drop healthcare, however.
[to top of second column] |
Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, met with Health and
Human Services Secretary Tom Price and several Republican state
governors at the White House on Monday to discuss a proposal Cassidy
and others have made to send federal healthcare funds to the states
in grants, Cassidy told reporters.
But Cassidy said he had not discussed bringing his proposal to the
Senate floor with Senate leaders. And the third-ranking Republican
senator, John Thune, told reporters Monday evening that until there
is a proposal that can win a majority of senators' support, "I think
we’ve had our vote and we’re moving onto tax reform."
Hatch, in the interview with Reuters, also said he thought Congress
would have to approve new funds for the government's cost-sharing
reduction subsidies to insurers that Trump had been threatening to
end. These subsidies lower the price of health coverage for the poor
under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Insurers have asked the government to commit to making the $8
billion in payments for 2018, saying they may raise rates or leave
the individual insurance marketplace if there is too much
uncertainty.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Caroline Humer, Susan Cornwell and
Amanda Becker; Editing by Richard Chang and Tom Brown)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
