Trump’s radical Obamacare move: Following the Constitution

Published October 13, 2017 1:50pm ET



President Trump has announced a radical move on Obamacare that has the healthcare policy world in a tizzy: He has, at long last, decided to follow the constitution and end illegal payments being made to insurers.

At issue are the cost sharing reduction payments, which are supplemental subsidies through Obamacare aimed at reducing premiums for lower-income enrollees. Though the payments were authorized by the text of Obamacare, Congress never appropriated the money to cover them, but former President Barack Obama made the payments anyway. Upon taking office, Trump continued making the payments as Republicans tried to come up with a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. Now that those efforts are dead, Trump has taken action that he should have taken months ago by ending the payments.

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