The deal would restore billions of dollars in cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers that the president announced last week he would no longer make, prompting concerns of steep premium hikes in the individual markets.
It would also allow states to sell stripped-down “catastrophic” or copper plans to anyone, not just people under 30 as allowed under current law, according to Alexander. The deal would allow “many more states” to qualify for waivers that give them some flexibility in what plans they sell on their exchanges, though exactly how is still unclear.
And, in a boon to Democrats, the deal restores more than $100 million in Obamacare enrollment outreach funds stripped by Trump. Those funds would be distributed as grants to states.
At the White House, President Trump gave his blessing to the emerging agreement but emphasized that it would be “a short-term deal” on the road to shifting health care spending to block grants awarded to the states.
“The solution will be for about a year or two years, and it’ll get us over this intermediate hump,” Trump told reporters during a joint press appearance in the Rose Garden with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. “It is a short-term solution.”
The slim Republican majority in the Senate failed to repeal Obamacare over the past few months and the GOP has put off trying again until after tax reform. In the meantime, Trump took several blows to the Obamacare that would likely result in premium increases for the millions of Americans who purchase insurance in the individual markets. This deal, if it passes, would reverse those moves.
“The president likes this idea,” Alexander said.