Senators propose 2-year guarantee of insurance subsidies that Trump removed last week


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Within Minutes, Senators Overtake Trump’s Burial of ObamaCare

Leading Republican and Democratic senators announce a deal to reform ObamaCare, moments after Donald Trump boasted that the Affordable Care Act had been slain.

GOP Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Democrat Patty Murray of Washington set out arrangements for two-year funding of essential subsidies for insurance of lower-income Americans, cut off last week by Trump.

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“In my view, this agreement avoids chaos,” Alexander said, “and I don’t know a Democrat or a Republican who benefits from chaos….This takes care of the next two years. After that, we can have a full-fledged debate on where we go long-term on health care.”

Alexander, the chairman of the Senate Health Committee, said the deal would also give states “more flexibility in the variety of choices they can give to consumers”.

Appearing in the White House Rose Garden alongside Greek President Alexis Tsipras, Trump said ObamaCare was “virtually dead” and promised its demise, amid his efforts to sabotage the ACA by limiting and blocking enrollees and withdrawing the subsidies.

But as news came through of the Alexander-Murray announcement, Trump revised his statement: “It’ll get us over this intermediate hump…[as] a short-term solution so that we don’t have this very dangerous little period.”

He continued, “For a period of one year, two years, we will have a very good solution. But we’re going to have a great solution, ultimately, for health care.”

A Compromise Over Trump’s Head?

After four GOP failure to repeal and replace ObamaCare, the Alexander-Murray proposal is a compromise between Republicans seeking changes to the ACA and Democrats trying to maintain its coverage and protections.

State governments will find it easier to obtain waivers from certain requirements; however, there will be explicit safeguards for those on lower incomes and the seriously ill.

Consumers of any age would be able to obtain catastrophic insurance plans, typically with low monthly premiums but high deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs. Under current law, the plans are available only to people who are under the age of 30 or have received an exemption from the federal coverage requirement because they cannot afford other insurance.

In addition to the maintenance of subsidies, millions of dollars will be restored for advertising and outreach activities that the Trump Administration had crippled to limit open enrollment.

Accusing Trump of taking steps to “sabotage health care in our country”, Murray said, “I’m really glad that Democrats and Republicans agree it’s unacceptable, and that the uncertainty and dysfunction cannot continue.”

Trump’s announcement of subsidy cut-off was already facing a lawsuit by 18 states. Doctors, hospitals and insurers, as well as the National Governors Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, urged Congress to sustain funding.