Trump seeks meeting with health insurers, eyes price cuts

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he wants to meet with health insurers in coming weeks in a bid for lower prices, saying that could be another way to lower healthcare costs as millions of Americans face a potential spike in premiums.

“I would say that maybe with one talk they would be willing to cut their prices by 50(%), 60(%) or 70%,” the Republican president said at a White House event during which he announced a deal with nine drugmakers to lower prices on pharmaceuticals.

Representatives for the nation’s largest health insurance companies — UnitedHealth Group Inc, CVS Health’s Aetna and Cigna — did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump said the meeting with health insurance companies could be held in Florida this coming week or in Washington the first week of the new year.

Millions of people who purchase their healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act face higher premiums when COVID-era U.S. subsides expire on December 31 unless there is congressional action.

The president had said he wants federal funds to instead be given directly to individuals for them to buy their own health insurance on their own. He also backed a measure passed this week by fellow Republicans, who blocked a three-year extension of the subsidies backed by Democrats and four Republicans.

“But there’s another way of doing it, and that’s getting the insurance companies to ease up and to cut their pricing way, way down and stay part of the system. So I’m going to call a meeting,” he said.

In a separate interview with NBC published earlier on Friday, Trump had said he does not plan to unveil a broader healthcare overhaul and that there was no need to repeal the ACA because Americans will just stop using it.

“I don’t have to do anything, because Obamacare would just repeal itself automatically because nobody’s going to want to use it. Too expensive,” he told NBC.

About 24 million Americans buy their health insurance through the ACA, nicknamed Obamacare because it was passed under Democratic President Barack Obama.

Some Republicans have tried pushing bipartisan healthcare reforms aimed at protecting constituents in swing districts before November’s elections, which threaten their majority control. Healthcare costs along with other higher consumer prices have fueled public discontent over the economy and could loom large at the polls.

The House Republicans’ bill aims to lower premiums for some people while reducing overall subsidies and raising premiums for others, starting January 2027 – two months after voters cast their ballots.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Amina Niasse, Christian Martinez and Costas Pitas; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Rosalba O’Brien and Daniel Wallis)