Obama Unwittingly Handed Trump a Weapon to Cripple the Health Law -
On Washington
WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials knew they were on shaky ground in spending
billions of dollars on health insurance subsidies without clear authority.
But neither he nor congressional Republicans were in any hurry to drop the appeal initiated by the Obama administration because
that would mean the subsidies would be immediately cut off, throwing the health insurance market into turmoil.
“We need to bring down the cost of coverage, and we need to revitalize the market so
that people have real choices and real access to affordable health care.”
Democrats and other critics say it is the Trump administration’s position on the cost-sharing payments
that is a chief contributor to the shakiness in the market, with insurers abandoning the program or raising premiums in anticipation of the federal dollars disappearing.
Republicans say the fight over the subsidies is just one element contributing to a failure of the health care law.
While some Democrats acknowledge that the Obama administration left the law vulnerable to attack with the way it funded
the subsidies, they say it is Republicans who will now pay politically if the program collapses on their watch.
Well, they are out of office, Mrs. Clinton is not president
and the uncertain status of the cost-sharing payments now looms as the biggest threat to the stability of the insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act.