Trump’s healthcare changes will ‘cause chaos in insurance markets’
Washington — US President Donald Trump will stop payments worth billions of dollars to health insurers to subsidise low-income Americans, the White House said on Thursday, a move health insurers have warned will cause chaos in insurance markets and a spike in premiums. The move to undermine president Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, officially called the Affordable Care Act, drew criticism from Democrats and the threat of a lawsuit from state attorneys-general. Trump has made the payments, guaranteed to insurers under Obamacare to help lower out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income consumers, each month since taking office in January, but he has repeatedly threatened to cut them off and disparaged them as a “bailout” for insurance companies. The White House said late on Thursday that it cannot lawfully pay the subsidies to health insurance companies. A White House statement said that based on guidance from the justice department, “the department of health and human serv...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.