White House Announces Healthcare Plan Amid Government Shutdown Discussions

The White House stated that President Donald Trump is deeply involved in discussions about a new plan to prevent sharp increases in health insurance costs, an issue central to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said healthcare is a topic of frequent and robust discussion inside the West Wing. “The president is very much involved in these talks. And he’s very focused on unveiling a healthcare proposal that will fix the system and bring down costs for consumers,” she added.

Leavitt did not provide details but mentioned that officials are considering extending enhanced Affordable Care Act tax subsidies to attract Democrat support. The pandemic-era subsidies, enacted when Democrats controlled Congress, expire at the end of this year.

As part of the new plan, the White House discussed imposing income caps for ACA enrollees to qualify for the enhanced subsidy and measures to crack down on healthcare fraud. Republicans also proposed redirecting some subsidy funding into health savings accounts and barring taxpayer dollars from going toward plans covering abortion or transgender care.

“The president speaks for himself,” Leavitt said, adding that “sometimes you report things, and then President Trump comes out with an announcement, and those things are not always true from what you hear from sources inside the building.”

The White House plan is expected to include new income caps for enrollees to qualify for ACA tax credits, along with minimum premium payments. The eligibility cap under discussion would limit subsidies to individuals earning up to 700% of the federal poverty line. Requiring enrollees to pay a minimum premium addresses conservative concerns over the widespread availability of zero-premium ACA plans.

The administration also intends to propose giving people the option to direct part of their tax credit into a tax-advantaged savings account if they switch to a lower-cost health plan. This feature is favored by many Republican lawmakers and backed publicly by Trump. “Rather than giving money to insurance companies, we want to start giving the money to patients,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said.

Although many Democrats appear broadly skeptical of Republican healthcare initiatives, some see a potential opening. “While I have significant concerns about some of the ideas reportedly in the president’s proposal, it nonetheless represents a starting point for serious negotiations,” Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said.