*With cable news focusing 100 percent of its airtime today to the fallout surrounding the abrupt firing of FBI director James Comey, President Trump on Thursday threatened to end key government payments to insurance companies made under ObamaCare…possibly as soon as June 1st.
In an interview with The Economist, Trump said he would end the cost-sharing reductions (CSRs) — payments that reimburse insurers for providing discounted out-of-pocket costs to help those with low incomes afford insurance.
“[T]here is no Obamacare, it’s dead. Plus we’re subsidizing it and we don’t have to subsidize it. You know if I ever stop wanting to pay the subsidies, which I will,” Trump said. “Anytime I want.”
Insurance companies count on these payments, and many have said they will be forced to raise premiums or completely drop out of the ObamaCare marketplace if the payments don’t continue.
The CSRs amount to about $7 billion a year and are currently being made by the executive branch, but the payments could be stopped at any time due to an ongoing lawsuit filed by House Republicans during the Obama administration, notes TheHill.com.
The House GOP argued in their suit that the payments were unconstitutional because Congress didn’t approve them. The House won, but the administration appealed, and the payments have continued ever since. If Trump opts to drop the appeal, the payments will end.
Democrats had hoped to include funding for the CSR payments in the year-end government spending bill last month, but those payments were left out when the administration agreed to temporarily continue funding them. But Trump has warned that the payments may not go beyond this month.
“No, this bill only gives them one month. They don’t realize that,” Trump said in the interview.
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