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WH Circulates Plan to Extend Obamacare 11/25 06:06
The White House is circulating a proposal that would extend subsidies to
help consumers pay for coverage under the Affordable Care Act for two more
years, as millions of Americans face spiking health care costs when the current
tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House is circulating a proposal that would
extend subsidies to help consumers pay for coverage under the Affordable Care
Act for two more years, as millions of Americans face spiking health care costs
when the current tax credits are set to expire at the end of the year.
The draft plan suggests that President Donald Trump is open to extending a
provision of Obamacare as his administration and congressional Republicans
search for a broader policy solution to a fight that has long flummoxed the
party. The White House stresses that no plan is final until Trump announces it.
The subsidies were at the heart of the Democrats' demands in the government
shutdown fight that ended earlier this month. Most Democratic lawmakers had
insisted on a straight extension of the tax credits, which expire at the end of
the year as a condition of keeping the government open.
Eligibility for the Obamacare subsidies, which were put in place during the
COVID-19 pandemic to help people afford health care coverage, would be capped
at 700% of the federal poverty level, according to two people with knowledge of
the proposal. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity to discuss a White House proposal that is in draft form.
The baseline tax credits that were originally part of the Affordable Care
Act were capped at 400% of the federal poverty level, but that cut-off was
suspended because of the temporary COVID-era credits that allowed middle- and
higher-income people to benefit from subsidies too.
The White House would also require those on Obamacare, regardless of the
type of coverage, to pay some sort of premium for their Obamacare plans. That
would effectively end zero-premium plans for those with lower incomes,
addressing a concern from Republicans that the program has enabled fraud. One
option is a requirement that everyone pay 2% of their income, or at least $5
per month, for lower-tier plans.
Even as the White House's proposal remains in flux, the notion of extending
any part of President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement is
likely to rankle conservatives who have sought to repeal and replace the law
for well over a decade.
"Until President Trump makes an announcement himself, any reporting about
the administration's health care positions is mere speculation," White House
spokesman Kush Desai said Monday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday
afternoon that Trump "is very much involved in these talks" and that he is
"focused on unveiling a health care proposal that will fix the system and will
bring down costs for consumers."
But there are signs that parts of the nascent White House plan could get
buy-in from Democrats. New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, one of eight members
of the Senate Democratic caucus who voted to reopen the government earlier this
month, said it "represents a starting point for serious negotiations."
"The fact that President Trump is putting forward any offer at all to extend
the Affordable Care Act's tax credits shows that there is a broad understanding
that inaction in this regard will cause serious harm to the American people,"
Hassan said.
Fellow New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who led bipartisan
efforts to end the government shutdown, added that "I'm glad the president is
reportedly considering a serious proposal."
"I've had constructive conversations with many of my Republican colleagues
who I believe want to get this done," Shaheen said. "They understand that the
vast majority of people who benefit from these tax credits live in states the
President won, and that the President's own pollsters have underscored the
enormous political urgency of Republicans acting."
In 2017, Trump fell short in a push to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, an
embarrassing defeat for Republicans who had just seized control of all levers
of power in Washington. The GOP has failed to coalesce around a unified health
care proposal since, and the expiration of the pandemic-era subsidies gives
Trump and his party an opportunity to put their own stamp on the issue.
As the White House worked quietly on its plan, led by the Domestic Policy
Council, key lawmakers on Capitol Hill have drafted their own proposals. For
instance, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy and others have
proposed various ideas for redirecting the program's spending on federal
subsidies into health savings accounts that enrollees could use to shop for
plans or defray out-of-pocket costs. Scott's plan has been discussed with the
White House multiple times since it was released Thursday, according to a
person familiar not authorized to discuss the private conversations.
The draft of the White House plan would allow those in lower-tier plans,
such as the bronze-level or catastrophic plans, to put money into health
savings accounts.
It would also codify the "program integrity rule" to further help root out
fraud, waste and abuse.
Americans shopping for Obamacare coverage have already faced the sticker
shock of price hikes, because the window for selecting next year's coverage
began Nov. 1. Without congressional action, the average subsidized enrollee
will face more than double their current cost in premiums next year, according
to an analysis by the health care research nonprofit KFF.
Recent national polls have shown Americans are concerned about health care
costs, along with broader affordability issues. Those concerns played out in
elections earlier this month, which swept to power Democrats whose political
messaging focused on the rising cost of living.
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