- Trump Threatens Health Subsidies to Force Democrats to Bargain New York Times by Robert Pear—In the weeks since President Trump's attempts to replace the Affordable Care Act collapsed, the administration has debated what to do: Try again? Shore up the insurance marketplaces? Or let the whole system collapse? Mr. Trump has failed to get enough support from his own party, but he hopes to get the Democrats' help by forcing them to the negotiating table with hints about the chaos he could cause. His bargaining chip is the government subsidies paid to insurance companies so they can reduce deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for low-income consumers—7 million people this year.
- Trump Threatens to Withhold Payments to Insurers to Press Democrats on Health Bill Wall Street Journal by Michael C. Bender, Louise Radnofsky and Peter Nicholas—Nearly three weeks after Republican infighting sank an overhaul of the Affordable Care Act, President Donald Trump dug back into the battle on Wednesday, threatening to withhold payments to insurers to force Democrats to the negotiating table. In an interview in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said he was still considering what to do about the payments approved by his Democratic predecessor, President Barack Obama, which some Republicans contend are unconstitutional. Their abrupt disappearance could trigger an insurance meltdown that causes the collapse of the 2010 health law, forcing lawmakers to return to a bruising debate over its future.