Trump and Republicans save Obamacare!!!
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 2:54 pm
WASHINGTON — Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Tuesday announced a deal to stabilize Obamacare markets that the president has tentatively blessed. Republicans are selling the plan as a stopgap measure to stabilize individual markets for two years as they muster the votes to repeal and replace the law entirely.
The deal would restore billions of dollars in cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers that the president announced last week he would no longer make, prompting concerns of steep premium hikes in the individual markets.
It would also allow states to sell stripped-down “catastrophic” or copper plans to anyone, not just people under 30 as allowed under current law, according to Alexander. The deal would allow “many more states” to qualify for waivers that give them some flexibility in what plans they sell on their exchanges, though exactly how is still unclear.
And, in a boon to Democrats, the deal restores more than $100 million in Obamacare enrollment outreach funds stripped by Trump. Those funds would be distributed as grants to states.
At the White House, President Trump gave his blessing to the emerging agreement but emphasized that it would be “a short-term deal” on the road to shifting health care spending to block grants awarded to the states.
The deal would restore billions of dollars in cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers that the president announced last week he would no longer make, prompting concerns of steep premium hikes in the individual markets.
It would also allow states to sell stripped-down “catastrophic” or copper plans to anyone, not just people under 30 as allowed under current law, according to Alexander. The deal would allow “many more states” to qualify for waivers that give them some flexibility in what plans they sell on their exchanges, though exactly how is still unclear.
And, in a boon to Democrats, the deal restores more than $100 million in Obamacare enrollment outreach funds stripped by Trump. Those funds would be distributed as grants to states.
At the White House, President Trump gave his blessing to the emerging agreement but emphasized that it would be “a short-term deal” on the road to shifting health care spending to block grants awarded to the states.
