Trump Is Looking To Halt Insurer Payments To Force Democrats Into Negotiations On Healthcare

In an interview with the Wall Street Journey on Wednesday, U.S President Donald Trump said that he is considering withholding billions of dollars of Obamacare payments to health insurers; forcing Democrats into negotiations over the future of healthcare in the country.

Not funding the payments, which help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income Americans, could have a serious effect on the individual insurance markets. Insurers and medical groups penned a letter to Mr Trump urging him to remain funding the subsidies, which amount to around $7 billion a year and are paid directly to insurers. 7 million Americans are covered by the payments which help cover medical expenses, deductibles and premiums.

House of Representatives Republicans and the Obama administration are in a pending legal case in the U.S. Court of appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, after a federal judge ruled in favour of the republicans in May 2016. The Republicans sued the Obama administration for funding the subsidies, which they argued have to be approved by Congress.

Many consumers may be forced to pick a health insurance plan as major insures, including Humana Inc and Aetna have announced their intention to leave the Obamacare exchanges after citing multi-million-dollar losses and patient populations higher than expected.