Trump to Summon Health Insurers to ask for Premium Cuts

Summary:

Trump said the meeting could happen next week when he was at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for the holidays, or during the first week of January when he returned to Washington.

President Donald Trump said he would convene insurance companies in the coming weeks in a bid to pressure them to reduce costs for Americans who will see their premiums rise following the expiration of Obamacare subsidies at year’s end.

“I’m going to call a meeting of the insurance companies,” Trump told reporters on Friday at the White House. “I’m going to see if they get their price down, to put it very bluntly.”

Trump said the meeting could happen next week when he was at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for the holidays, or during the first week of January when he returned to Washington. He said he had come up with the idea on the spot, at an event where he listened to pharmaceutical company executives pledge to donate drugs as part of a deal to avoid tariffs.

Shares of major insurers UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH), Cigna Group (CI) and Humana Inc. (HUM) pared gains sharply on Trump’s remarks.

AHIP, a trade group representing health insurers, said premiums reflect the cost of medical care and that insurers’ margins and administrative costs are regulated. “Health plans are doing everything in their power to shield Americans from the high and rising costs of medical care,” AHIP Chief Executive Officer Mike Tuffin said in an emailed statement.

Trump said that while he still preferred a plan that would give Americans direct subsidies to purchase insurance, an agreement to reduce costs could help preserve the Obamacare exchanges.

Insurance companies “are making so much money, and they have to make less, a lot less,” he said. “And maybe we can have reasonable health care without having to cut them out and let it all go awry.”

Congress left Washington earlier this week without extending the subsidies. Health care premiums for more than 20 million Americans will, on average, more than double in 2026, which risks putting insurance out of reach for many voters already concerned about the costs of housing, groceries, utilities and other expenses.

When lawmakers return to the Capitol next month, they have less than two weeks to resolve the issue before open enrollment ends Jan. 15. Democrats focused relentlessly on the Obamacare premium spikes six months, making it the centerpiece of their demands during the six-week government shutdown this fall.

Source: Bloomberg

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