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President Trump’s decision to cut off critical payments to health insurance companies ratcheted up the pressure on Congress on Friday to take action to protect consumers from soaring premiums, while also adding a combustible new issue to negotiations to avert a government shutdown this year. Mr. Trump’s move, announced Thursday night, could cause chaos in insurance markets, sending insurers fleeing from the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces, raising the federal government’s costs and pricing out some consumers. (Kaplan and Pear, 10/13)

The Senate this week will grapple with President Donald Trump’s decision to stop making subsidy payments to health insurers, with lawmakers seeking a deal that would keep the money flowing while Republicans try to fold in conservative-oriented health-care priorities. It remains unclear whether a package could emerge that attracts support from a critical mass of senators and also from House Republicans. That could be put to the test quickly, as Sens. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D., Wash.) are expected to introduce a plan within days and Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) unveils his own, more-conservative-leaning version. (Armour and Peterson, 10/15)

A bipartisan attempt by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to stabilize Obamacare, which would fund the subsidies for up to two years, has already encountered skepticism from GOP conservatives and growing opposition from the White House. The two lawmakers plan to keep talking — but it's a tough road. “Under no circumstance should Congress attempt to expand Obamacare by cutting a check for President Obama's bailout of insurance companies," Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, tweeted late Thursday. (Haberkorn and Cancryn, 10/13)

Defiant Democrats, convinced they have important leverage, promised to press for a bipartisan deal to restore the money by year's end. That drive could split the GOP. On one side: pragmatists seeking to avoid political damage from hurting consumers. On the other: conservatives demanding a major weakening of the Affordable Care Act as the price for returning the money. "The American people will know exactly where to place the blame," declared Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., all but daring Trump to aggravate what could be a major issue in the 2018 congressional elections. (Fram and Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/14)

President Donald Trump’s decision to end payments to insurers under the Affordable Care Act triggered an immediate dispute Friday among Republicans over whether to reverse the decision and shore up the nation’s insurance markets or embrace Mr. Trump’s move. That fight is likely to intensify upon the announcement of a bipartisan deal to guarantee the insurer payments, which is expected to be released within days, according to people familiar with the talks. The deal, led by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D., Wash.), would authorize the payments Mr. Trump is ending, while also providing states some flexibility under the ACA. (Peterson and Armour, 10/13)

A key moderate Republican is urging President Donald Trump to support a bipartisan Senate effort to reinstate insurer payments, calling his move to halt the subsidies an immediate threat to millions of Americans who could now face rising premiums and lost health care coverage. "What the president is doing is affecting people's access and the cost of health care right now," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who has cast pivotal votes on health care in the narrowly divided Senate. "This is not a bailout of the insurers. What this money is used for is to help low-income people afford their deductibles and their co-pays." (Yen, 10/16)

A pair of key lawmakers on each side of the aisle criticized President Donald Trump on Sunday for ending subsidies that help low-income Americans afford health care under the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she was “disappointed” by the president’s actions and urged Congress to “step in” with its own plan for Obamacare. (Klimas, 10/15)

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Sunday ripped President Trump's decision to end key ObamaCare payments known as cost-sharing reduction (CSR) benefits, comparing the decision to "arson." "This is the equivalent of health care arson. He is literally setting the entire health-care system on fire just because the president is upset that the United States Congress will not pass a repeal bill that is supported by 17 percent of the American public," Murphy said on "Fox News Sunday." (Manchester, 10/15)

President Donald Trump said Friday he will end payments reimbursing insurers for lowering out-of-pocket costs for the poorest Americans, provoking cries of Affordable Care Act “sabotage” from Democrats and ensuring health insurance rates will rise for many Americans next year. (Radelat, 10/13)

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said on Sunday that President Trump's decision to end key ObamaCare payments known as cost-sharing reduction (CSR) benefits would help U.S. families. "If you take the totality of what the president did, I think it actually helps the family," Cassidy said on "Fox News Sunday." (Manchester, 10/15)

Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) argued Friday that President Trump was “ill-advised” to end key ObamaCare payments, warning that the GOP now “owns” whatever happens to ObamaCare. “I think the president is ill-advised to take this course of action because … we, the Republican Party, will own this,” Dent, a key House moderate who is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, said on CNN. (Carter, 10/13)

Democrats accused President Trump of trying to sabotage the nation’s health-care system through his decision to halt payments to insurers meant to shore up the system, while Republicans countered Sunday that Trump is just pushing for a hard bargain. Trump’s decision, announced Friday after months of criticizing the payments as an insurance industry bailout, will throw in doubt the private insurance exchanges that are part of the Affordable Care Act. Democrats vowed to use year-end negotiations on the federal agency budgets as a leverage point to reinstate the payments, vowing to pin the political blame on Republicans if premiums skyrocket next year. (Kane, 10/15)

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is signaling Democrats will try to get ObamaCare's insurer subsidy payments included in a December funding deal, adding another legislative item to an already packed end-of-the-year schedule. "I think we're going to have a very good opportunity in the omnibus to get this done in a bipartisan way, if we can't get it done sooner," Schumer told reporters during a conference call on Friday. (Carney, 10/13)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday urged Republicans to act immediately to restore ObamaCare insurance subsidies newly withheld by the Trump administration, saying Democrats may use emergency spending bills to secure the payments. She added that restoring the subsidies was a "matter of life and death." (Lillis, 10/13)