Donald Trump appears to threaten members of Congress with 'BAILOUT' tweet
Donald Trump appears to have threatened members of Congress after Republicans failed to deliver on one of his key campaign promises to repeal and replace Obamacare.
In one of his latest tweets, Mr Trump wrote, “If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!”
The Senate's Republican leadership suffered a colossal defeat earlier this week when a majority of senators, including members of their own party, rejected multiple proposals aimed at dismantling the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
Democrats laud 'turning point' on healthcare
After the final failed vote in the early hours of Friday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the upper chamber would move on from healthcare to other matters, but the President appears to have other plans.
Observers have suggested that Mr Trump in the second part of his tweet asserted he will eliminate subsidised health insurance for members of Congress unless they pass a healthcare bill quickly.
Meanwhile, in the first part, he appears to have threatened to cancel payments that compensate insurance companies for reducing out-of-pocket costs for low-income people. Insurance companies have been demanding big rate increases or fleeing from individual insurance markets created by Obamacare, and making those cost-sharing reduction payments could be key to keeping insurers in the market and preventing spikes in premiums.
While the Trump administration has previously threatened to cancel those payments to destabilise markets and bring Democrats to the negotiating table on healthcare reform, some powerful Republican legislators have also called for guaranteeing the cost-sharing subsidies.
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