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Trump Threatens Health Subsidies to Poor to Force Talks
LBN thread: Trump Threatens to Withhold Payments to Insurers to Press Democrats on Health Bill
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Source: Bloomberg
Trump Threatens Health Subsidies to Poor to Force Talks
by Shannon Pettypiece and Zachary Tracer
April 12, 2017, 8:19 AM EDT April 12, 2017, 6:25 PM EDT
President Donald Trump might withhold payments under Obamacare that are used to help poor people afford medical services in order to force Democrats to negotiate changes to the health law, he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.
Those payments to lower-income people, called cost-sharing-reduction subsidies, have been at the center of an almost three-year legal battle between Republicans and Democrats. The payments are used to help poorer people in Obamacare afford copays and other cost sharing for medical services. Without them, they might not be able to afford to get care. Trump’s administration has threatened to stop making the payments.
“I don’t want people to get hurt,” Trump told the Journal published Wednesday. “What I think should happen -- and will happen -- is the Democrats will start calling me and negotiating.”
The top Senate Democrat swiftly criticized Trump for his remarks, saying that the party’s strategy remains unchanged.
“President Trump is threatening to hold hostage health care for millions of Americans, many of whom voted for him, to achieve a political goal of repeal that would take health care away from millions more,” Chuck Schumer of New York said in a statement. “This cynical strategy will fail.”
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by Shannon Pettypiece and Zachary Tracer
April 12, 2017, 8:19 AM EDT April 12, 2017, 6:25 PM EDT
President Donald Trump might withhold payments under Obamacare that are used to help poor people afford medical services in order to force Democrats to negotiate changes to the health law, he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.
Those payments to lower-income people, called cost-sharing-reduction subsidies, have been at the center of an almost three-year legal battle between Republicans and Democrats. The payments are used to help poorer people in Obamacare afford copays and other cost sharing for medical services. Without them, they might not be able to afford to get care. Trump’s administration has threatened to stop making the payments.
“I don’t want people to get hurt,” Trump told the Journal published Wednesday. “What I think should happen -- and will happen -- is the Democrats will start calling me and negotiating.”
The top Senate Democrat swiftly criticized Trump for his remarks, saying that the party’s strategy remains unchanged.
“President Trump is threatening to hold hostage health care for millions of Americans, many of whom voted for him, to achieve a political goal of repeal that would take health care away from millions more,” Chuck Schumer of New York said in a statement. “This cynical strategy will fail.”
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Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-12/trump-still-seeking-to-pass-health-care-bill-before-tax-overhaul
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