Trump backs health tax credits that have split Republicans

(Bloomberg) — During his first major address to Congress Tuesday, President Donald Trump backed a proposal that has split the Republican Party: giving Americans tax credits to buy coverage.

Related: GOP Obamacare plan suffers blow with rejection by key Republican

Trump’s health care remarks, midway through the hour-long speech, offered few new policy details but embraced a plan put forward by House Speaker Paul Ryan. A divided Republican Party, along with investors on Wall Street, had been looking for a clear explanation of his intentions for repealing and replacing “Obamacare.”

Republicans have been unclear about which components of the Affordable Care Act statutory package they include in the term Obamacare.

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“President Trump demonstrated that he and the House are coalescing around a replacement plan, including a tax credit to help individuals buy a health plan that fits their needs,” Ryan said in a statement after the speech. The tax credits Ryan has proposed to help people buy coverage have drawn opposition from conservatives, who worry they would be a new entitlement.

In his remarks, Trump reiterated his call to repeal Obamacare — to which Republicans in the chamber stood and applauded. Additional health policy goals from Trump included bringing down drug prices and speeding the “slow and burdensome approval process at the Food and Drug Administration.”

“If we slash the restraints, not just at the FDA but across our government, then we will be blessed with far more miracles,” Trump said, without offering an explanation of what should be done. He has yet to name who will head the FDA.

Replacement principles

He said he would replace Obamacare with a program that would ensure access to coverage, lower costs and provide better health care — broad principles that Democrats and Republicans have both called for in the past. Specifically, he called for giving more control of the Medicaid program to states, limiting medical lawsuits, making sure people with pre-existing medical conditions can access coverage, and having insurers sell coverage across state lines.

“The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we are going to do,” Trump said.

Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, has indicated a willingness to work with Republicans on changing the ACA. He said he liked Trump’s tone, though he wished Trump had called to “repair” the law, as some more moderate Republicans have.

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Major Republican divisions have emerged on Obamacare. Conservatives have insisted they’ll vote only for a full repeal, void of replacement programs. More moderate GOP members have balked at not including some help for people to afford insurance and a fix to allow the 31 states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA to continue with a broader program. Trump said during the speech that any program should include a transition for those currently in Obamacare.

“It’s a good thing that there are a lot of different ideas,” because that’s how good public policy is made, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning. He applauded the range of proposals within the Republican party as part of the legislative process, and said Trump will eventually have to take a firmer position on the specifics of a replacement bill.

Sen. Mark Meadows, shown above, is one of the skeptics about Republican leaders’ current ACA change strategy. (Photo: Meadows’ office)