U.S. President Donald Trump went on to criticize health insurers on Monday as top Senate Republicans Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mike Crapo of Idaho unveiled new legislation in an effort to replace soon-to-be-expired Obamacare subsidies.
Trump made the remarks during a White House event as Cassidy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Crapo, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, released their legislation, the Health Care Freedom for Patients Act.
The Cassidy-Crapo bill aims to create Health Savings Accounts (HSA) as an alternative to Democrats’ push for a three-year extension of Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.
“This bill is an alternative to Democrats’ temporary COVID bonuses, which send billions of tax dollars to giant insurance companies without lowering insurance premiums,” the Senators said, echoing Trump’s views on the pandemic-era subsidies.
Companies with significant operations in the Affordable Care Act marketplace traded lower in early November after Trump proposed to redirect Obamacare funds from “BIG, BAD” and “money-sucking” insurance companies to the American public.
Elevance Health (ELV), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), CVS Health (CVS), Centene (CNC), Molina Healthcare (MOH), and Oscar Health (OSCR) run large ACA marketplace businesses, while Health Equity (HQY) is a notable HSA provider.
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