Nov. 24 (UPI) — The White House delayed rolling out a new plan Monday that was expected to curb rising healthcare costs, as major Affordable Care Act subsidies expire for millions at the end of the year.
President Donald Trump had been scheduled to unveil his plan Monday, but the announcement was postponed without a reason, a White House official told CNN.
“Until President Trump makes an announcement himself, any reporting about the administration’s healthcare positions is mere speculation,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
Earlier Monday, MSNOW also reported the administration would introduce a new proposal aimed at curbing premium hikes, that could more than double with the expiration of ACA subsidies. By the end of the day, there had been no announcement on the plan, even though it was never officially on the schedule.
According to three people granted anonymity, as reported by Politico, the White House health plan was expected to include a two-year extension of Obamacare subsidies with new limits on eligibility. But that now appears to be off, following pushback from congressional Republicans, according to MSNOW.
“I would absolutely not be supportive of that,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told MSNOW. “Since I last checked, COVID has been over for some time. This is definitely not the DOGE thing to do,” Burlison added in reference to the government oversight agency, run by Trump’s former adviser Elon Musk.
While Senate Republicans agreed to vote in mid-December on whether to extend ACA tax credits, in order to end the longest government shutdown in history, an extension was not tied to the funding bill and Republicans provided no guarantee it would pass.
Last week, Trump addressed his stance on affordable healthcare in a social media post.
“The only healthcare I will support or approve is sending the money directly back to the people, with nothing going to the big, fat, rich insurance companies, who have made trillions, and ripped off America long enough,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The people will be allowed to negotiate and buy their own, much better, insurance. Power to the people.”
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “things are not always true from what you hear from sources inside the building.”
“The president is very much involved in these talks, and he’s very focused on unveiling a healthcare proposal that will fix the system and will bring down costs for consumers,” Leavitt added. “As for the details of those discussions, I’ll let the president speak for himself.”
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