Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee are considering a bill that aligns with President Donald Trump’s pitch to directly send ACA healthcare subsidies back to consumers, a source told Politico.
The source spoke on the condition of anonymity to share direct knowledge of private discussions. Politico covered the update Nov. 14, just one day after the committee issued a statement calling out “unprecedented fraud,” focusing on COVID-era tax credits.
“Obamacare fraud is a cash cow for insurance companies that is driving up healthcare costs for Americans,” Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said.
The legislation could mirror objectives laid out in President Trump’s Nov. 8 Truth Social post.
“I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE, and have money left over,” he wrote.
A similar House bill introduced in February aimed to “allow individuals to elect to receive contributions to a health savings account in lieu of reduced cost-sharing under health insurance obtained through a health insurance Exchange.”
The dialogue comes amid uncertainty over the future of ACA enhanced subsidies, set to expire at the end of the year and a key element in the recent government shutdown. In a CNN interview, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, said the president is “going to look at all options” while navigating next steps with the subsidies, which contain “major flaws.”
“There are discussions around extending the subsidies, if we deal with the fraud, waste and abuse that right now is paralyzing the system,” he said.
