Republican senators pressed President Trump to commit to pay Obamacare insurers for reducing healthcare costs for low-income customers next year, but they did not receive a commitment during a lunch meeting with the president Tuesday.
Trump hosted about a dozen senators who are going to be critical to passing a Senate version of the American Health Care Act, a partial Obamacare repeal bill that narrowly passed the House last month.
Trump was “open to our suggestions and made no pronouncements,” said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking GOP senator, who attended the meeting at the White House.
One of the issues discussed during the meeting was what to do about cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers. Trump has not committed to making the payments in 2018 and has angered insurers that say they need to know if the payments will be made since they are making 2018 plans now.
“I think he recognizes that in the near term … there is going to have to be some method of ensuring there is stability in the marketplace,” Thune said.
While Trump didn’t give a deadline, Thune said the president does want legislation passed soon.
The Republican leadership had hoped to hold a vote on a healthcare bill by Congress’ July 4 recess.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a key centrist who also attended the meeting, said the president was “very receptive to a lot of suggestions we made.”
