The Obamacare Subsidies WILL Probably be Extended….

Republicans REALLY have no other choice….

I know you heard about Republican healthcare alternatives ….

Forget it….

The GOPer’s do NOT have a ‘plan’….

The healthcare covergae increases would be another way for Republicans to lose votes….

Democrat’s ARE NOT gonna let this go….

Obamacare IS gonna be around for a LONG time….

 

President Trump, who has repeatedly denounced the Affordable Care Act as a “disaster,” is considering backing an extension of insurance subsidies tied to the health law that are set to expire at the end of the year, according to a senior White House official.

Mr. Trump has not made a final decision, the official said. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss continuing deliberations.

“Until President Trump makes an announcement himself, any reporting about the administration’s health care positions is mere speculation,” said Kush Desai, a White House spokesman.

Extending the subsidies was at the center of the 43-day government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, with Democrats insisting on continuing them while Republicans said they would make no commitment while the government was closed….

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The issue spotlights the difficulty Republicans have had in coming up with an alternative to the Affordable Care Act. While running for the White House last year, Mr. Trump memorably said that he had the “concepts of a plan” to replace the program, but none was forthcoming.

Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana and the chairman of the Senate health committee, recently floated an alternative. It calls for the federal government to give the money it spends on tax credits under the health law directly to consumers, who could put them in a health savings account and use them toward out-of-pocket costs or deductibles.

“It gives power to the patient,” Mr. Cassidy said Sunday on CNN….

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The Obamacare tax credits, however, do not go to insurance companies; they help consumers offset the costs of their health care premiums. Democrats and independent analysts say Mr. Cassidy’s plan would barely make a dent in costs….

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With just five weeks to go until those extra subsidies expire, Mr. Trump and his fellow Republicans have been feeling intense pressure to act. The price of insurance is already going up, and the president and his party can ill afford to be blamed for making costs for many go even higher when voters are already struggling to pay their bills….

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Republicans have never liked the Affordable Care Act, both for philosophical reasons and because the legislation’s association with Mr. Obama irritates them. When the law was enacted, they sued to overturn it (and won a partial victory when the Supreme Court struck down a provision expanding Medicaid nationwide) and vowed to “repeal and replace it.”…

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