Trump faces looming health cost rise

With Obamacare tax credits ending Jan. 1, Republicans scramble to find a path forward.

- BY MICHAEL WILNER

ANNA ROSE LAYDEN Politico PRESIDENT Trump's proposal of a second megabill to address the expiration of Affordable Care Act credits could face GOP resistance.

Republicans won a significant political victory this month when moderate Senate Democrats joined them to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, relenting from a showdown over the rising costs of healthcare.

But the fight is already back on, with mere weeks to spare before the Trump administration faces a potential uproar from the public over the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits on New Year’s Day, when premium costs will skyrocket.

The fast-approaching deadline, coupled with stinging defeats in elections this month driven by voter concerns over affordability, prompted a series of crisis meetings in the West Wing over a path forward on Capitol Hill.

The White House response that emerged this week is a political Hail Mary for an increasingly divided party entering an election year: a second megabill, deploying the parliamentary tool of reconciliation, addressing not just healthcare costs but Trump's tariff policies under intense scrutiny at the Supreme Court.

“We're going to have the healthcare conversation. We're going to put some legislation forward,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair said Tuesday, addressing a breakfast event hosted by Bloomberg Government, as House Republican leaders pitched the plan to their members in a closed-door meeting.