Cassidy says he's working with White House on plan to cut health insurance costs

3 days ago 5

Sen. Bill Cassidy, the president of the Senate wellness committee, says "we're perfectly successful connection with the White House" astir a program to bring down the cost of wellness care for Americans.

He told "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" successful an interrogation airing Sunday he's aiming to person a connection acceptable for a ballot that is acceptable to instrumentality spot successful mid-December.

Tax credits for astir 22 cardinal Americans who bargain their wellness security done the Affordable Care Act's marketplace were astatine the halfway of the authorities shutdown that ended Wednesday. A Biden-era enlargement of those subsidies is expiring astatine the extremity of the year, truthful unless they're extended, galore consumers volition apt look acold higher security premiums.

Democrats pushed Republicans to widen the subsidies arsenic a information for reopening the government, but they yet settled for the committedness of a ballot adjacent period connected extending the enhanced tax credits.

Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, said of immoderate program to widen the subsidies, "Let's admit what you're doing conscionable gives wealth to security companies."

Instead, he's asking Republican and Democratic colleagues to collaborate connected lowering wellness security premiums and straight giving Americans wealth to assistance them offset precocious deductibles that are often a diagnostic of the lower-cost policies nether the ACA.

"We tin bash it amended with little premiums and with wealth and accounts to wage deductibles," Cassidy told Brennan. He said he's telling Democrats, "Let's not beryllium Democrats and Republicans — let's beryllium Americans, representing each of Americans."

President Trump offered a similar idea past weekend, penning connected Truth Social the wealth that's spent connected wellness security subsidies should beryllium "SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE."

Brennan pressed Cassidy connected extending the expanded taxation credits, which were created successful 2021 and are acceptable to expire astatine the extremity of the year.

Noting the astir 293,000 Louisianans presently enrolled successful Obamacare, Brennan asked, "Are you telling those hundreds of thousands of Louisianans that that taxation recognition is going distant nary substance what, that they should marque plans nary for higher prices?"

Cassidy countered that the occupation with the plans was that galore of them person precocious deductibles, with immoderate reaching $6,000 successful out-of-pocket costs. The lower-premium "bronze" plans connected the ACA's marketplaces often person precocious deductibles.

"Margaret, I'm a doctor," Cassidy said. "I would speech to radical erstwhile they'd travel to spot me, and they would archer me, 'I can't spend that. My deductible is excessively high.' That's reality, and that world is being mislaid successful this discussion."