The White House reneged on its expected announcement for a policy framework to guide Republican lawmakers on a possible replacement for the Affordable Care Act — and that failure has roiled the conservative caucus.
President Donald Trump was expected to announce as soon as Monday — at the White House alongside Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — a broadly sketched plan to prevent premium spikes when ACA subsidies set to expire at year’s end.
But the announcement never came, reported NOTUS.
“There was never a health care announcement on the guidance today,” a White House official told the outlet.
That White House official did not deny that whatever shadow plan might have been devised was now placed on hold, and the vagueness irritated conservatives who complained they were never consulted on the policy framework.
“You can throw any meaningful reform out the window the moment you extend the Obamacare enhanced subsidies,” one Republican lawmaker said.
That GOP lawmaker told NOTUS they would be fine with the proposal Trump has suggested on social media, which involves sending money directly to consumers instead of health insurance companies to pay for coverage, but another conservative sounded less than enthusiastic.
“Not bold and not thought out with Congress,” that conservative lawmaker said.
A conservative strategist blasted the president’s plan and his process for rolling it out.
“Trump’s now putting forward a proposal that basically looks like what he just ripped Marjorie Taylor Greene a new [one] over — like, it’s something that all of these moderate Democrats can vote for,” the conservative strategist said.
White House press secretary downplayed the apparent about-face on Trump’s announcement, saying she would let him “speak for himself,” and Burchett predicted that little would come of the idea.
“Wringing of hands, clutching of pearls and a strong letter to someone I’m sure,” Burchett said.
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