HHS to Pay Cost-Sharing Reduction Bills for July

House Republicans have argued that HHS has no valid congressional appropriation to make the payments, and a district court judge has sided with the House Republicans. Trump said Wednesday, at a lunch with Republican senators, that the federal government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the cost-sharing reduction program, and that, if the payments stop, the current health insurance system will stop.

At the press briefing, a reporter asked Short about Trump’s remarks.

“The courts have ruled that the Congress never appropriated those dollars,” Short said, according to the briefing transcript. “And [the president is] acknowledging that and saying that, you know, here we are keeping Obamacare afloat, in ways that the courts have already ruled we arguably shouldn’t be doing. So, yeah, he’s concerned about that policy, and he continues to evaluate it each month.”

Another reporter asked Short about the political effects of withdrawing the subsidy payments.

“I think that the president wouldn’t view it as, ‘What are the political consequences?’” Short said. “He’s going to view it as, ‘What’s right?’ And, right now, there’s a legal opinion on that. And I think that there’s additional opinions being researched within our White House and giving him different advice on what should be the best course of action on those. I know where is heart is. I think he’s expressed that very openly what he thinks of those payments. But, as far as what the next step is, I think we’ll find out in the near future.”

A reporter asked Short what Short thinks insurance companies should do about the cost-sharing reduction program.

“Despite the fact we’re still considering what to do with it, this administration has continued to pay [the subsidies], so, it makes it additionally harder to say there’s any price increase that’s been related to that to date,” Short said.

— Read 5 Guesses About Trump Showdown Care, for Agents on ThinkAdvisor.