Trump urges lawmakers to give healthcare money ‘directly to the people’
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Saturday floated a possible compromise amid an impasse over the U.S. government shutdown, urging Republicans to redirect federal money currently going to health insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act and give it to individuals.
“I suggest to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars that are currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies to bail out the poor Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, be SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE, SO THEY CAN BUY MUCH BETTER HEALTH CARE AND HAVE THE LEFT MONEY OVER,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
“In other words, take it from the BIG, BAD Insurance Companies, give it to the people, and end ObamaCare, which is the worst Health Care anywhere in the world per Dollar spent,” he added, without providing further details.
Trump’s comments on Truth Social came just hours before the US. The Senate was due to reconvene at noon (17:00 GMT) after Friday’s rejection of legislation that would restart pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers during the longest shutdown in US history.
Lawmakers are at odds over how to reopen the government. Democrats want a funding bill that would include health benefits that expire for 24 million Americans at the end of the year, but Republicans say Congress should first pass a funding bill without conditions and allow the government to reopen before addressing other issues.
White House representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s post. Representatives for U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; additional reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Alistair Bell and Sergio Non)
