GOP/HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Sen. Susan Collins, one of three Republican senators who blocked the GOP’s health-care bill last week, on Sunday said President Donald Trump’s threatened cuts in payments to insurers would be ‘detrimental’ to America’s poor.
The secretary of health and human services, meanwhile, was noncommittal about the payments and also declined to say whether the Trump administration would enforce the portion of the Affordable Care Act that generally requires individuals to carry health insurance.
At issue are millions of dollars under the Affordable Care Act that the federal government pays in order to lower deductibles and out-of-pocket costs for the poorest health enrollees…
Mr. Trump made one of his most explicit threats to cut off the payments in a tweet over the weekend, when he also floated the idea of cutting off lawmakers’ own health benefits. ‘If a new Healthcare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for members of Congress will end very soon!’ Mr. Trump said on Twitter .
The president has made such threats for months, and the next set of payments is scheduled in three weeks. This issue is especially critical now because deadlines for insurers to decide whether to participate in health-insurance marketplaces are also looming. Insurance companies have been expressing their uncertainty about what to do and about their concerns over the chaotic state of the insurance-exchange markets in several states.
These payments are under legal challenge by Republicans in the House, who say the money never was authorized by Congress. A federal judge has sided with the House but is allowing the funds to continue during the litigation.”
-Thomas M. Burton, “GOP Senator Says Trump’s Health-Payment Cuts Would Hurt Poor,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 30, 2017 02:27pm