Trump official offers quid pro quo to insurance companies on Obamacare repeal

[MattP]

http://forums.talkingpointsmemo.com/t/discussion-report-trump-official-offered-insurers-quid-pro-quo-for-ocare-repeal/56094

[progree]

1. Here's a link to the article rather than a forum post linking to it:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/seema-verma-offered-insurers-quid-pro-quo-for-ocare-repeal

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Report: Trump Official Offered Insurers Quid Pro Quo For O’Care Repeal

A top official in the Health and Human Services Department allegedly suggested that if insurers supported the House GOP Obamacare repeal bill, the administration would continue funding subsidies that President Trump has threatened to halt that keep out-of-pocket costs down for low income consumers, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The offer — said to have been put forward by Seema Verma, the Trump-appointed administrator of the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare (pictured above) — left insurance industry officials “stunned,” the newspaper said.

...

The Trump administration has rebuked the Los Angeles Times’ account of the meeting.

“The statement about Administrator Verma suggesting that the administration would fund CSRs is absolutely false. What she said at the AHIP meeting in April was that no decisions had been made about CSR’s,” said Jane Norris, CMS communications director, who, according to the CMS, attended the meeting.

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and then the article goes on to explain what the CSR's are -- Cost Sharing Subsidies -- that help pay the deductibles and copays for people below 250% of the poverty level (not to be confused with the much more widely known premium subsidies)