In the ongoing battle surrounding Obamacare, its repeal and its replacement, President Donald Trump is utilizing skills and tactics made famous in his book “Art of the Deal.”
In interviews this week, including one with the Wall Street Journal, President Trump said that he’s exploring the idea of withholding key Obamacare payments, a move designed to get Democrats to the table to negotiate.
“I don’t want people to get hurt,” said President Trump.
“What I think should happen — and will happen — is the Democrats will start calling me and negotiating.”
The move by the President could throw insurance markets into chaos, which in turn could put Democrats in a position to deal on repealing the law.
At the heart of the matter are the payments themselves, known as cost-sharing reductions (CSRs). The payments reimburse insurers for giving discounted deductibles to low-income Obamacare enrollees.
House Republicans have sued over the payments, arguing they are unconstitutional without a congressional appropriation.
One prominent Democrat spoke out forcefully in response to the President’s proposed move.
“President Trump is threatening to hold hostage health care for millions of Americans, many of whom voted for him, to achieve a political goal of repeal that would take health care away from millions more,” said Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.)
“This cynical strategy will fail. Our position remains unchanged: drop repeal, stop undermining our health care system, and we will certainly sit down and talk about ways to improve the Affordable Care Act.”
President Trump has not said for sure whether he would actually seek to cancel the payments, or whether or not Congress should appropriate the money.
“I might continue the payments so that I won’t be blamed for chaos in the system. That’s part of the reason that I may go the other way,” said President Trump.
“The longer I’m behind this desk and you have Obamacare, the more I would own it.”
While the suit from House Republicans is ongoing, President Trump could simply drop the defense of it and cancel the payments, which would likely result in insurers either spiking premiums or dropping out of the Obamacare market altogether.
Insurers are also pushing for more certainty, as they decide whether or not they will participate in Obamacare next year. Some Congressional Republicans have also called for appropriating the money, which could override any decisions from the Trump administration, and keep payments going.
A Real, Practical Solution for Healthcare?
The Daily Business News recently covered the story of Dr. Josh Umbehr of Atlas MD, discussing a potential “best option” for Obamacare repeal and replacement in terms of controlling costs and providing cost-effective services.
Umbehr’s co-op model has already been proven in their clinic, and in other clinics that are doing something similar. For additional insight on this plan and how it would work in combination with the proposed health plan from the Freedom Caucus, MHProNews reached out to a respected MD about the concept.
“I’ve always liked this type of practice. It doesn’t include hospital care or specialty care, but that could be covered by the catastrophic insurance with a large deductible,” Dr. David Murdock, a cardiologist from Wausau, WI, said to MHProNews when asked about this practice.
“If I was a primary doctor, I would push this for my patients.”
Murdock explained that this proven medical care system was a case of back-to-the-future.
“That’s actually a return to the way medical care was done in the years before Medicare and widespread insurance,” Murdock said. “It’s not new, it’s a return to how it worked well in the past.“
“You can see the built in mechanism to contain cost,” said Murdock.
For more on Obamacare and its impact on the manufactured housing industry, click here. ##
(Image credits are as shown above.)
Submitted by RC Williams to the Daily Business News for MHProNews.
