President Trump reportedly said Tuesday that he wanted to revisit a failed bipartisan effort to stabilize Obamacare to lower premiums.
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said that at an infrastructure meeting with Democratic leaders, Trump suggested reviving legislation authored by Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., to fund Obamacare insurer payments, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Alexander-Murray bill, meant to prevent spikes in premiums, would have reinstated cost-sharing reduction subsidies that would reimburse insurers for paying out-of-pocket costs to cover low-income Obamacare customers. The bipartisan effort ultimately failed, however, despite Trump’s support, thanks in part to controversy over abortion coverage.
Both sides have subsequently mostly moved on from discussing major legislation related to Obamacare, after both GOP replacement efforts and the Alexander-Murray legislation failed. Democratic presidential candidates now generally favor moving to a government-financed healthcare system or otherwise going beyond Obamacare, while Republicans are busy messaging against those proposals.
Alexander said later Tuesday that he would be open to working again to pass the bill, if Democrats dropped opposition to language preventing funding for abortions.
“The agreement fell apart at the last minute because Democrats refused to vote for the traditional Hyde Amendment restricting federal funding for elective abortions that Democrats had voted for in every appropriations bill since 1976, and voted for in 100 other places in the same appropriations bill in which we proposed to include Alexander-Murray,” Alexander said in a statement. “I was extremely disappointed our legislation didn’t become law. If Democrats are willing to modify their position on the Hyde Amendment and renew their interest in Alexander-Murray, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss it.”
In Tuesday’s meeting, Trump, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed to work toward a $2 trillion infrastructure package, though neither side explained how it would be paid for.
