Trump slams Democrat, ‘big, bad’ health insurers amid shutdown standoff
President Trump took a jab at Democrats and health insurance companies on Saturday as lawmakers struggled to find consensus on a bill to reopen the government.
With the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credit set to expire soon, Trump has suggested that funding be taken away from insurance companies and paid directly to consumers, eyeing the debate over high health care premiums.
“I recommend to Senate Republicans that the hundreds of billions of dollars currently being sent to money-sucking insurance companies to save the bad health care provided by Obamacare, be sent directly to people so they can make their own purchases,” Trump wrote on Saturday, adding that much more money is left for true social.
“In other words, take from BIG, BAD insurance companies, give to people and end up spending every dollar, the worst health care anywhere in the world, ObamaCare,” he continued as he reiterated his push to “end” the GOP’s filibuster rules.
“Democrats are winning that they are destroying our great, miracle economy, which they set out to fix. End the filibuster!” The president wrote in a separate post on Satya Social on Saturday.
He blamed the Republican leadership’s unwillingness to drop the filibuster for the GOP’s loss in Tuesday’s election.
“The Democrats are going to do it, so if the Democrats are going to do it, I say they should do it before the Republicans get a chance,” Trump told reporters Friday, referring to the rule. “If we do that, we’ll never lose a midterm election, and we’ll never lose a general election, because we’ll build something so different for our people, for the country, that it’s impossible to lose an election.”
Open enrollment for ACA plans began earlier this month without subsidies that make health insurance more affordable for many low-income families. Republicans have blamed the current system, signed into law by former President Obama in 2010, for the shortfalls and plans to develop a new health plan.
Upper House lawmakers have failed 14 times to push House-passed continuing resolutions (CRs) over the finish line as Democrats pressure their GOP colleagues to tackle expiring health subsidies. Under filibuster rules, the Senate needs 60 votes to pass legislation.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) proposed a plan Friday to end the shutdown after intense negotiations among Democrats. The proposed measure is headlined by an extended ACA tax credit, a short-term CR and a three-bill minibus attachment of full-year spending bills that was a part of previous bipartisan negotiations.
“Democrats have said we must deal with the health care crisis, but Republicans have repeatedly said they will not negotiate to reduce health care spending until the government reopens,” Schumer said. “So, let’s find a way to respect both positions.”
Republicans almost immediately backed down on the proposal.
The lack of movement on both sides led Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) to hold lawmakers in Washington over the weekend. However, he said it was unclear what the chamber would vote on.
Thune is also eyeing an extended CR that could push the funding deadline to January.
