Copyright Benzinga
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he has not seen any formal plan from the White House to replace the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, even as President Donald Trump urges Republicans to scrap the law and redirect its funding "into the pockets of the American people." Bessent Says No Formal Obamacare Replacement Plan "We don't have a formal proposal," Bessent said in an interview on ABC News's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos, when asked about Trump's recent remarks. Trump on Saturday appeared to weigh in on the shutdown standoff over enhanced ACA subsidies, which are set to expire at year's end and could raise health insurance premiums for millions of Americans. Extending those subsidies has been Senate Democrats' central demand for nearly six weeks, during which they have voted 14 times to block a GOP plan to reopen the government. Trump Floats Redirecting Subsidies Directly To Consumers "I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE, and have money left over," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "In other words, take from the BIG, BAD Insurance Companies, give it to the people, and terminate, per Dollar spent, the worst Healthcare anywhere in the World, ObamaCare," he added. See Also: Bernie Sanders Says Shutdown Fight Is About Trump Giving Trillion-Dollar Tax Breaks To ‘Mr. Musk, Mr. Bezos’ And Other Billionaires: ‘Must Not Cave’ The president did not offer details on how such a plan would work. Fiscal hawk Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote on X that he is "writing the bill right now." White House Prioritizes Ending Shutdown Before Talks Pressed on the absence of a concrete proposal, Stephanopoulos told Bessent he was "a little confused" that Trump was promoting the idea while the administration was not formally putting it before the Senate. "We're not proposing it to the Senate right now, no," Bessent replied. He later said the administration's priority is ending the record-long government shutdown before negotiating with Democrats over healthcare, including ACA premium subsidies that are currently paid directly to insurers on behalf of more than 90% of marketplace enrollees. Read Next: Senate Advances Vote To End Record 40-Day Shutdown As Thanksgiving Looms, Democratic Centrists Reach Deal With GOP Leaders Photo Courtesy: Maxim Elramsisy On Shutterstock.com
