Some politicians and analysts believe a partisan clash on Obamacare may lead to a government shutdown if President Donald Trump and the Democrats can’t come to an agreement.
Democrats have accused Trump of purposely sabotaging the health care system by ending subsidies to insurance companies that made plans more affordable, while Republicans and Trump have said the payments were never legal and that he had to end them.
Without the insurer payments, premiums for health care plans under private state exchanges may skyrocket and the exchanges could fold under the pressure, The Washington Post reported.
Democrats seeking to save Obamacare have said they may hold up year-end budget negotiations and appropriations in order to try to work out a deal to keep the subsidy payments.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham reported after playing golf with Trump last week that Trump has asked Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander to work on a bipartisan deal to remedy the situation.
“I hope that we can get a deal between Senator Alexander and Patty Murray that would allow us to continue the payments, but get reform,” Graham said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Trump met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday, and in a news conference the two leaders said they have a good relationship and that they are "fighting for the same thing."
"We are together totally on this agenda to move America forward," McConnell said, CNN reported.
Several bills to repeal and replace Obamacare have been killed by a few Republicans who refused to vote for them, but Trump is still hopeful a bill can be passed early next year to fix the system.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.