United States President Donald trump said that he will end government payments to health insurers if Congress will not vote for the health care bill that will replace ObamaCare. This marks the second time that Trump threatened to end such payments.
The president took to Twitter over the weekend to announce his plans regarding insurance payments. His exact words, in part, said, “BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress" will most likely end if the repeal and replace bill will not push through.
According to Reuters, the tweet came after Senate Republicans were not able to get enough votes for them to repeal some parts of ObamaCare.
What exactly does Trump want to end?
The bailouts that Trump is referring to are those aids given by the government to health insurance companies that help Americans who do not have enough money to afford insurance, Bloomberg reported. Aside from the aid for poorer Americans, Trump also threatened to halt the assistance given to some Congressional staff members. These individuals are enrolled in plans under the Washington, D.C. insurance exchange. The Washington, D.C.
insurance exchange is also under ObamaCare and makes health insurance affordable for Congressional staff members.
If Trump pushes through with his plans, companies will have to increase premiums or halt their offerings altogether. According to Andrew Slavitt, the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the Obama administration, said that if the threat materializes, it will be felt by the middle class.
After Trump took to Twitter to threaten halting insurance payments, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the president should stop playing politics with people’s lives and health care. Schumer also said that if the payments stop, all premiums will go up and health care will be very expensive.
Three Republicans voted against repeal
The bill that would have repealed ObamaCare did not push forward after Republican John McCain of Arizona joined Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The repeal bill received 49 votes in favor and 51 against. In order for the bill to advance, it needed 51 votes.
Trump not giving up on repealing ObamaCare
Trump took to Twitter again to say that unless the “Republican Senators are total quitters, Repeal & Replace is not dead!” Republican Senators Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), Bill Cassidy (Louisiana), and Dean Heller (Nevada), met with Trump on Friday for a revamped version of the new health care bill. Graham said in a statement that they had a great meeting with the President, and that it was great to know that he “remains fully committed to repealing and replacing” the Affordable Care Act.