Trump leaves lawmakers in limbo

Congressional Republicans appear to have no clear idea of what President Donald Trump wants to fix the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which expire on December 31. Millions of Americans are expected to see their health care costs skyrocket as of January 1 — or lose coverage altogether — yet the president has sent conflicting messages on what plan, if any, he would sign, leaving Republicans competing to create plans Trump may or may not support.

“Republicans and Democrats agree success hangs on one question: Will President Donald Trump figure out what he wants?” Politico reported on Monday.

Last week, Trump signaled he wanted an extension of the Obamacare subsidies, and was preparing to announce his plan until Speaker of the House Mike Johnson reportedly intervened, saying many of his members would not support extending the subsidies. House Republicans also felt “left out” that they were not consulted before the President arrived at a decision.

“In his only comments on the matter, Trump injected more uncertainty last week, saying he doesn’t want to extend the subsidies but understands it might be necessary,” Politico also noted, reporting on Trump’s “mixed signals.”

“Capitol Hill factions are trying to figure out what Trump wants and how to entice him to their side,” Politico reported — and added that even though the deadline is month’s end, some Republicans are more focused on January 30, “the next shutdown deadline, as the real cutoff for a health care deal.”

Some centrists and bipartisan collections of Senators and members of Congress are looking at proposals to extend the subsidies, while more far-right Republicans want no extensions, but rather, a plan for the government to help fund individual health care savings accounts. Those funds, after legislative fixes, might be able to be used to help pay monthly health care premiums and other health care costs.

But, as The Washington Post reported last week, “health economists say the vast majority of these individual accounts — already used by tens of millions of Americans — do not contain sufficient money to pay for serious health expenses. Even boosting them with new federal contributions would not build enough reserves to pay for expensive care for an emergency or major illness if needed, they say.”

“There’s widespread skepticism that Republicans will agree to any plan that isn’t fully endorsed by Trump,” Politico added. “A significant swath of GOP lawmakers will simply never vote to extend anything related to Obamacare, according to three GOP aides granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics.”

Meanwhile, PBS News last week reported that Speaker Johnson “has declined to say whether he will allow a vote on a health care bill. Many other members of his GOP conference want to see the subsidies eliminated or the underlying law overhauled.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, “and other Republicans have said they want new language on abortion restrictions if they pass an extension — a dealbreaker for Democrats.”

After the White House scrubbed last week’s expected announcement that the president wanted a two-year extension of health care subsidies, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote, “Yet another delay while Republicans wait to see if a health care plan will fall from the sky.”