By Lawrence Wilson
Contributing Writer
President Donald Trump is open to making a deal on Affordable Care Act subsidies, which has been a key demand of Democrats in the standoff over temporary funding of the federal government.
“We are speaking with the Democrats, and some very good things could happen with respect to health care,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
Asked if he would make a deal on the ACA subsidies, Trump said: “If we made the right deal, I’d make a deal, sure.”
The subsidies in question are the enhanced premium tax credits, instituted during COVID-19, which expanded use of the ACA Marketplace, known as Obamacare, to middle-income Americans.
Obamacare enrollment jumped by 20 million when the subsidies were introduced.
Intended to be temporary, they are set to expire at the end of 2025.
Democrats have proposed making them permanent.
Some Republicans favor a one-year extension.
Many Republicans, however, see the enhanced subsidies as riddled with fraud and waste.
“The key to the ACA subsidies is to get back to pre-COVID policy and work on program integrity and waste,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told reporters on Friday.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told reporters on Friday: “You got folks that are really concerned about … the subsidies, and what they look like, and what you can do to eliminate some of the fraud that’s already been identified within the COVID-related subsidies.
“So this is not going to happen in one or two days.”
Commenting on the ACA subsidies, Trump said: “It’s billions and billions of dollars that’s being wasted, and we can have a much better health care than we have right now.”