Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

GOP lawmakers, Trump at odds over insurance payments

The Hill: Lawmakers are facing off with President Trump over key ObamaCare payments that are in jeopardy after the collapse of efforts to repeal the healthcare law.

Trump is threatening to cancel the payments, known as cost-sharing reductions (CSRs), as part of his effort to make ObamaCare “implode.”

But he is running into opposition from key Republicans, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (Utah) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (Texas), who say they want to find a way to guarantee the payments, which reimburse insurers for giving discounted deductibles to low-income ObamaCare enrollees.

If the payments were cancelled, insurers have warned they would either have to spike premiums to make up for the lost money, or drop out of the market altogether, limiting people’s options for coverage.

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