Republicans on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee are circulating a bill that would mimic President Donald Trump’s proposal to redirect health insurance subsidies directly to individuals, according to a person granted anonymity to share direct knowledge of the private directions.
The legislation, previously introduced by Florida Republican Reps. Kat Cammack and Greg Steube, would give enrollees in the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges the ability to elect to receive a portion of financial assistance from insurers directly in their tax-advantaged health savings accounts. Those HSA contributions would be in lieu of assistance that insurers would usually apply on the back end to the out-of-pocket health costs for low-income individuals.
Staff for Ways and Means Republicans are currently preparing a presentation for committee members to review the proposal, along with other potential policies to lower health costs, according to the person.
The bill would help Congress codify Trump’s recent calls on social media for congressional Republicans to redirect the “Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies” and send them “directly to the people.”
A GOP committee spokesperson did not return a request for comment.
The president is making this specific pitch for lowering health care costs as an alternative to extending the expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that were at the center of the partisan government funding standoff.
The exhortations are already complicating nascent, and fragile, negotiations to extend the Obamacare tax credits before they sunset at the end of the year, with some moderate Republicans hoping to work with Democrats on a bipartisan proposal that would pair an extension of an existing policy with conservative reforms both parties could live with.
Concrete committee movement on legislation favoring Trump’s approach to preserving the subsidies could further undermine the talks. Senate Democrats were promised a Senate floor vote on legislation to extend the subsidies in mid-December. Speaker Mike Johnson has committed to no such vote on his chamber floor before the Dec. 31 expiration date.
“The cynicism’s real high,” said one person close to Senate Democratic leadership, granted anonymity to describe the skepticism from Democrats at this time that they’ll ultimately be able to reach an agreement.
Also casting doubt on the ability for both parties to land on an agreement in the coming weeks, the Senate Finance Committee plans to hold a hearing next week on the rising costs of health care and one likely key witness has proven to be to be a chief antagonist of the subsidies, according to three people granted anonymity to share the a committee agenda not yet made public.
That witness is Brian Blase of the Paragon Health Institute, an architect of the dramatic Medicaid cuts as part of the GOP party-line megabill enacted over the summer. Senate Finance also plan to invite Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the president of American Action Forum, to testify at a hearing.
According to two of those people, the Democratic witnesses will include a health care expert and an individual who would be personally affected by the expiration of the subsidies.
A Senate Finance spokesperson declined to comment on the forthcoming witness panel.
