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Article snippet: WASHINGTON — A powerful House Republican said Thursday that Congress should immediately provide money for subsidy payments to health insurance companies, which have been demanding big rate increases or fleeing from Affordable Care Act markets because of President Trump’s threat to cut off the funds. The Republican, Kevin Brady of Texas, who is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, went out of his way to make clear that he now believes that Congress should continue the subsidies, which compensate insurers for reducing deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for seven million low-income people. The Trump administration has sent mixed signals on the issue, as the president seeks leverage to win legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That has destabilized insurance markets and jeopardized a health law that Mr. Trump says is collapsing. Mr. Trump has said he can stop the payments “anytime I want,” and his budget director, Mick Mulvaney, refers to the subsidies as “Obamacare bailout payments.” But at a budget hearing on Thursday, Mr. Brady said the payments were needed “to help stabilize the insurance market and help lower premiums for Americans trapped in Obamacare.” “We should act within our constitutional authority now to temporarily and legally fund cost-sharing reduction payments as we move away from Obamacare,” Mr. Brady said. “Insurers have made clear the lack of certainty is causing 2018 proposed premiums to rise significantly.” His stat... Link to the full article to read more