President Donald Trump on Thursday night again weighed in on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which has been a major stumbling block in ending the government shutdown because Senate Democrats are demanding negotiations on extending subsidies expected to expire at year’s end.
“As I have said for years, OBAMACARE IS A DISASTER!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Rates are going through the roof for really bad healthcare!!! Do something Democrats!!!”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said earlier this month he offered Democrats a vote on extending the health insurance subsidies if they agreed to end the shutdown.
The open enrollment period for purchasing health insurance through the ACA network begins Saturday, when many people will experience sticker shock as they see how much their premiums are about to increase.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Democrats temporarily expanded ACA marketplace premium tax credits by increasing the size of subsidies so that many enrollees paid less toward premiums, removing the income cap that previously left people earning more than 400% of the federal poverty level ineligible for subsidies, and capping the portion of income any eligible enrollee would pay for a benchmark plan at no more than 8.5% of income.
Those enhanced subsidies, first enacted under the 2021 American Rescue Plan, were extended in August 2022 under the Inflation Reduction Act through 2025.
Trump on Wednesday made a more measured plea for a bipartisan replacement for the ACA.
“We have to fix healthcare, because Obamacare is a disaster,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to an economic summit in South Korea. “When you see the increases in Obamacare, it never worked.
“It never will work, and we can do something with the Democrats much better than Obamacare. Less money and better healthcare.
“And I think that’s something that could come out of this with the Democrats. We work with the Democrats.”
He bemoaned increased premiums under the ACA, saying insurance companies “are making a fortune.”
“I think it’s a great time for the Republicans and Democrats to get together and make something that will work and let the insurance companies make money — they’re entitled to that, but not the kind of money that they’re making,” he said.
He encouraged Democrats to “open up the government and we’ll work it out. I think a lot of good things can happen from it.”
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