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U.S. NEWS Saturday 14 OctOber 2017
Trump’s blow to ‘Obamacare’ jolts health consumers, politics

By ALAN FRAM clared Senate Minority
RICARDO ZALDIVAR Leader Chuck Schumer, D-
Associated Press N.Y., all but daring Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — to aggravate what could
President Donald Trump’s be a major issue in the 2018
abrupt move to cut off congressional elections.
federal payments to insur- The money goes to com-
ers jolted America’s health panies for lowering out-of-
care and political worlds pocket costs like co-pay-
alike on Friday, threaten- ments and deductibles for
ing to boost premiums for low- and middle-income
millions, disrupt insurance customers. It will cost about
markets and shove Re- $7 billion this year and help
publicans into a renewed more than 6 million people.
civil war over their efforts to Ending the payments
shred “Obamacare.” would affect insurers be-
Defiant Democrats, con- cause President Barack
vinced they have impor- Obama’s law requires
tant leverage, promised them to reduce their poor-
to press for a bipartisan er customers’ costs. Carri-
deal to restore the mon- ers are likely to recoup the
ey by year’s end. That lost money by increasing
drive could split the GOP. 2018 premiums for people House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., departs a news conference on Capitol Hill in
On one side: pragmatists buying their own health in- Washington after responding to President Donald Trump’s executive action that will halt payments
seeking to avoid politi- surance policies. to insurers under the Obama-era health care law he has been trying to unravel for months, at the
cal damage from hurting The National Association Capitol in Washington, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017.
consumers. On the other: of Insurance Commission- (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
conservatives demanding ers estimates that Trump’s
a major weakening of the move would produce a 12
Affordable Care Act as percent to 15 percent up-
the price for returning the surge in premiums, while
money. the nonpartisan Congres-
“The American people sional Budget Office has
will know exactly where put the figure at 20 per-
to place the blame,” de- cent. q

GOP’s Susan Collins to stay in

Senate, ditches governor run

By DAVID SHARP dwindling number of GOP
Associated Press centrists like Arizona’s John
ROCKPORT, Maine (AP) — McCain who are willing to
Republican U.S. Sen. Susan work across the aisle. But
Collins announced Friday she’s not afraid to buck her
that she won’t run for gov- own party: She introduced
ernor because she believes a bill to let transgender
she can do more good by people serve in the military
remaining in Washington, and opposed efforts to kill
where she serves as an im- the Affordable Care Act
portant swing vote. without a replacement.
Her announcement was In Washington, she’s been
welcomed by supporters a consistent thorn in the
who view her as an impor- side of Republican Senate
tant check on President Majority Leader Mitch Mc-
Donald Trump, with whom Connell, as her willingness
she’s crossed on the GOP’s to go her own way has left
health care proposal. him short of votes on key
Speculation about Collins’ bills, most prominently his
political future has been efforts to repeal “Obam-
swirling for more than a acare.”
year in her home state, On Friday, McConnell
where the moderate re- praised Collins for choosing
mains popular even as the to remain in the Senate,
Maine GOP has become saying she “brings convic-
more conservative. Collins tion, smarts and leadership
acknowledged it was a to every issue.” Maine’s
difficult decision, one that other senator, indepen-
she’d struggled over. dent Angus King who cau-
The only Republican sena- cuses with the Democrats,
tor from New England has called her “a champion for
found herself among a the state of Maine.”q