President Trump late Tuesday disputed reports that he wants to temporarily extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies for two years, but left the door open to compromising on extension to get a deal that eventually replaces them.
Democrats’ COVID-era expansion of Obamacare subsidies, known as premium tax credits, is set to expire Dec. 31 and they want to extend it, but most Republicans do not.
Mr. Trump told reporters Tuesday night as he traveled on Air Force One that he is looking at alternatives to extending the Obamacare subsidies, which are mostly paid in advance to insurance companies to lower what Obamacare customers pay out of pocket for their premiums.
“I like my plan the best: Don’t give any money to the insurance companies, give it to the people directly,” he said. “Let them go out and buy their own health care plan. And we’re looking at that, if that can work. We’re looking at that. That’s sort of taking off.”
MS Now and Politico first reported Sunday night that Mr. Trump was going to release a health-care proposal soon.
The proposal reportedly called for extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies for two years with an income cap and provisions to protect against fraud, like eliminating $0 premiums.
It also reportedly included an option for Obamacare enrollees who downgrade to high-deductible plans to receive part of the subsidy in a tax-exempt Health Savings Account.
Obamacare enrollees’ out-of-pocket premium costs are expected to more than double, on average, if the enhanced subsidies are not extended.
Mr. Trump said the reporting that he would propose a temporary extension is inaccurate.
“I don’t want to extend them for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all,” he said.
The president did, however, leave the door open to a potential compromise that may extend the existing subsidies in transition to an alternative that delivers government aid directly to consumers.
“Some kind of extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been a disaster,” he said.
The enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits cap out-of-pocket premium costs for consumers shopping on Obamacare exchanges, ranging from 0-8.5% of household income.
If the COVID-era expansion expires, people earning above 400% of the federal poverty will no longer qualify for the subsidies and the range other consumers must contribute to their out-of-pocket costs will increase to 2.1% to 9.96%.
Mr. Trump claimed that Democrats are negotiating with him but declined to provide names.
“I can’t tell you who,” he said. “A lot of Democrats want this plan to happen. They would love to see the money go to the people and the people go out and get their own health care. And there would be nothing like it.”
Congressional Republicans believe delivering subsidies through HSAs will give consumers more flexibility over their health care choices than the enhanced Obamacare subsidies.
Democrats say that HSAs are a flawed approach to help with rising health care costs because they can’t be used to pay premiums and have contribution limits that are insufficient to cover major health expenses.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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