A bill circulating in the House Ways and Means Committee would allow enrollees in Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges to elect to receive a portion of their financial assistance directly in their health savings accounts.
Those HSA contributions would be provided in lieu of assistance insurers usually apply on the back end to out-of-pocket health costs for low-income individuals, Politico reported Friday, citing a person granted anonymity to share details of the private discussions.
The proposal reflects calls from President Donald Trump to redirect health insurance subsidies directly to individuals.
"Democrats claim to be working for 'the little guy,' and driving down your Health Insurance, but the OBAMACARE SCAM goes STRAIGHT TO THEIR BEST FRIENDS IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY," Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social. "THEY ARE MAKING A 'KILLING,' while Health Coverage only gets WORSE. If Democrats get their way again, they're in for another HUGE Payday at the expense of the American People. NO DEAL! Republicans should give money DIRECTLY to your personal HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS that I expanded in our GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
As part of the bipartisan funding deal to end the government shutdown, Democrats were promised a Senate vote on extending ACA subsidies that are set to expire at year's end. The subsidies were created during the pandemic in 2021 and extended in 2022 through Dec. 31, but Democrats were not guaranteed a vote in the House.
Some moderate Republicans hope to work with Democrats on a bipartisan proposal that would pair an Obamacare subsidy extension with new limits sought by conservatives — terms both parties could accept, Politico reported. Committee movement on legislation that aligns with Trump's approach to redirecting subsidies could further undermine the talks, according to the outlet.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Newsmax on Monday that Republicans were readying ideas to tackle rising healthcare costs once the shutdown ended. Johnson said the GOP included a plan in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would have reduced healthcare premiums by 12.7%, but Democrats stripped it out.
"The problem is that we are subsidizing very wealthy insurance companies," Johnson said. "That is not helping costs go down. It's driving premiums up even higher. So, Republicans want to fix the broken system.
"We don't want to throw good money at a broken and failing system. And the Affordable Care Act has been that since it was signed into law, passed by the Democrats alone back in 2010. We've got to reduce the cost of healthcare and the cost of living, and Republicans are the ones that have the ideas to do that."
With the subsidies set to expire Dec. 31, Johnson said "it's an urgent matter for us, and it has been, which is why we put it into the bill that we passed in the early summer. And the Democrats fought to take it out."
Newsmax reached out to a Ways and Means Committee spokesperson for comment.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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