Trumps threat prompts Democrats to play hardball over Obamacare payments
Democrats signaled that they will seek to secure payments owed to health insurers under the Affordable Care Act as part of pending negotiations over a government spending bill Thursday — a new wrinkle in sensitive talks that emerged a day after President Trump threatened to use the payments to force Democrats to negotiate a replacement for the ACA.
The “cost-sharing reduction” payments are meant to subsidize out-of-pocket expenses for low-income Americans who receive insurance through ACA marketplaces, and the payments are seen as a key factor in maintaining the stability of the market for individual insurance in many states.
House Republicans sued the administration of President Barack Obama over the payments, and they have been tied up in litigation for months as insurers have warned that the impasse could threaten coverage for many Americans.
Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that he might hold back the payments to force Democrats to negotiate over replacing the Affordable Care Act. “I don’t want people to get hurt,” he told the paper. “What I think should happen — and will happen — is the Democrats will start calling me and negotiating.”
Two Democratic aides familiar with the negotiations but not authorized to comment publicly on them said Trump’s remarks have now put the issue among the party’s top priorities as they negotiate a spending bill. Current federal appropriations expire April 28, and a partial government shutdown would follow if Republicans and Democrats cannot agree on how to extend funding.
Both Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are determined to use Democrats’ leverage in the spending fight to force the Trump administration to make the insurance payments, the aides said.
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