Trump calls for ACA subsidies to be sent to consumers
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President Trump said Saturday that the money that's being spent on Affordable Care Act subsidies now should be sent directly to consumers — a position that's likely to complicate the government shutdown deadlock even more.
Why it matters: Trump's statement in a Truth Social post puts further pressure on Republicans to reject Democratic demands to extend the enhanced ACA tax credits as a condition for voting to end the shutdown.
What he's saying: "I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE, and have money left over," Trump said in the post.
Between the lines: There's no detailed policy proposal to go with the post, but other Republicans and think tanks have proposed changes along similar lines.
- On Friday, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate health committee, proposed redirecting the ACA tax credit money into pre-funded federal flexible spending accounts.
- And the conservative Paragon Health Institute has proposed letting low-income Americans put part of their ACA subsidy money into health savings accounts to give them more choice and control over how they spend their money.
Brian Blase, president of the think tank, told Axios in an email that he reads Trump's post as "an acknowledgement that the status quo is not working and more subsidies directly to insurers will not make coverage more affordable or reduce underlying health care costs."
- "There are a lot of reforms that would fit in the main rubric that the president laid out," including Paragon's proposals, Blase said.
Some Republicans, like Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), cheered on Trump's attacks on health insurance companies.
- "We can keep on paying insurance companies to hide the cost of the health care behind confusing bills and rising premiums … Or we can trust Americans with the tools to pay for the care directly, at fair prices, with total transparency," Cassidy said in a floor speech Saturday.
- Joe Grogan, a former domestic policy adviser to Trump, called the president's statement "spot on."
- "We must stop funneling hundreds of billions of dollars to insurance companies just to prop up the broken Obamacare system. Give that money back to the American people so they can choose affordable plans that actually work," Grogan said in a statement.
Friction point: Such a move wouldn't get Republicans any closer to a resolution with Democrats, who have been holding out for a straight extension of the ACA subsidies and have made it clear they're not interested in making changes as a tradeoff.
- "This is, unsurprisingly, nonsensical," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) posted on X. "Is he suggesting eliminating health insurance and giving people a few thousand dollars instead? And then when they get a cancer diagnosis they just go bankrupt?"
- Senate Democrats' latest proposal to end the shutdown — a stopgap spending bill with a one-year extension of the ACA tax credits and a bipartisan committee to negotiate changes later — fizzled on Friday after Republicans rejected it.
The bottom line: Trump's statement will give Republicans more encouragement to press for changes now — which isn't likely to move Congress any closer to reopening the government.
Maya Goldman contributed to this story.
This story has been updated with a quote from Cassidy's floor speech.
