Ending funding—$7B this year—will send out-of-pocket costs for low-income people soaring.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The White House confirmed late Thursday that it would no longer pay subsidies to insurers selling coverage under the Affordable Care Act, a move that appears to be the next step in President Donald Trump’s plan to neutralize the landmark legislation without assistance from Congress. Ending the payments—estimated at $7 billion this year alone—would likely spike out-of-pocket costs incurred by low-income Americans who obtain their health-care coverage through Obamacare exchanges. Yet the White House said it can no longer “lawfully” make the payments. The move to pull the plug on the subsidies comes the same day as the signing of an executive order allowing the creation of newly formed health associations that offer less health coverage.
