Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) says he aims to craft bipartisan legislation to give subsidies directly to Obamacare exchange enrollees rather than to insurance companies — a plan that would flesh out President Donald Trump’s suggestions for resolving the demands from Democrats that led to the longest total government shutdown in U.S. history. 

Cassidy, chairman of the Senate’s health committee, told the Washington Examiner that his proposal is meant to defray the rising premium costs for Affordable Care Act enrollees after the extended premium tax credits expire at the end of the year.