Schumer Warns Trump Against Withholding Obamacare Cash

[Jimbo101]

Huffington Post

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged President Donald Trump to release payments that the federal government owes insurers as part of the Affordable Care Act, firing a salvo in the latest stage of the health care reform fight.

Schumer’s reaction came after Trump launched a Saturday afternoon tweet threatening to end “BAILOUTS to insurance companies” if Congress does not repeal and replace Obamacare.

Although Trump did not specify exactly what he meant, Schumer interpreted it as an indication that Trump plans to withhold subsidies to insurers for plans on the Obamacare individual insurance marketplaces that provide lower out-of-pocket costs for people with incomes under 250 percent of the poverty line. Delivering on the threat, which Trump has issued more explicitly in the past, would, on average, prompt insurers to increase premiums for typical plans by 19 percent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and likely plunge the marketplaces into chaos.

“If the President refuses to make the cost sharing reduction payments, every expert agrees that premiums will go up and health care will be more expensive for millions of Americans,” Schumer said in a statement. “The president ought to stop playing politics with people’s lives and health care, start leading and finally begin acting Presidential.”

[oberliner]

1. This is not the kind of thing Trump responds well to

I fear it will not have the desired effect.

[msongs]

2. nothing will have the "desired effect". dems need to take the initiative here nt

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Trump swore on a Bible to faithfully execute the Office of the President

of the United States. He can't pick and choose which laws he's going to execute. Although, I do get the feeling that he won't enforce the Russian Sanctions that he was forced to sign.

[meow2u3]

14. tRump's executing the Office of the President, all right

He's murdering the rule of law!

By trying to make himself dicator, he's begging to be impeached and to be the first "pResident" to be removed from office!

[BigmanPigman]

4. When is this nightmare going to be over for real?!

We HAVE TO get rid of this ass NOW! We can't wait until possibly 2018 or when/if Mueller is allowed to finish his investigation.

[NastyRiffraff]

5. Oh, Chuck...

You don't know that Dump doesn't care about premiums going up and many people losing health insurance as a result. This is his stated goal. As he said in his speech urging police brutality:

“You know, I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode and then do it. And I turned out to be right. Let ObamaCare implode,”

As he said, he's said something very similar in the past. He's licking his chops in anticipation of millions of people losing health care because they can't pay for it. He always has to be "right."

[Shrike47]

13. Since he's taken every possible position, flipped and flopped, one of them might be what happens.

[flamingdem]

6. Do the cost sharing cuts take effect immediately?

Since it's month by month they might .. meaning see yr dr now

[Mountain Mule]

11. Twitler can stop paying beginning August 1

I'd say that's being pretty immediate. Of course Twitler is famous for his patience and discretion. And we all know how much he truly loves the American people - especially when they're captive audiences like the Boy Scouts or women whose pussies he wants to grab or disabled reporters or ... never mind.

I KNEW we weren't out of the woods yet. I am disabled and on medicaid and I've been living with anxiety levels that are over the top every since I heard the election night results.

Fuckers - sorry for my language but I guess it's all the vogue these days, anyway.

[DeminPennswoods]

7. Must be shooting for Chris Christie

territory approval numbers...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Schumer Warns Trump (Republicon) Against Sabotaging. . . . . nt

[busterbrown]

9. Trumps first question to Captain Kelly?

Hey Capin....Whats a Premium reduction payment?

[gratuitous]

10. Trump wants to stiff contractors again, huh?

Who didn't see that coming?

[bucolic_frolic]

12. Interfering with a regulated market should be a crime

you or I or your average company wouldn't get away with it

[LudwigPastorius]

15. 19%?

Try an 83% increase, in my case.

If Trump decides to fuck everyone and withhold the subsidy, my insurance goes from $367.99 a month, to $673.99 a month.

Suddenly, I'll have to figure out which two out of three I can pay in a given month - rent, health insurance, or food.

Trump must have stock in cat food companies, because he's about to force a bunch of us to start eating it to survive.

[trueblue2007]

16. IF TRUMP DOES THAT, can he be sued?

[Duppers]

17. How can he be stopped?

Is there not some recourse?

[standingtall]

18. Not much of warning if Schumer does say what he would do about it.