The White House is circulating a plan to extend Obamacare support as Trump pledges to reform health care

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is circulating a proposal that would expand subsidies to help consumers pay for coverage under the Affordable Care Act for another two years, as millions of Americans face higher health care costs when current tax credits expire at the end of the year.

The draft plan suggests President Donald Trump is open to extending Obamacare as his administration and Republicans in Congress search for a broader policy solution to a battle that has long vexed the party. The White House confirms that there is no final plan before Trump announces it.

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The benefits were at the heart of Democrats’ demands in the government shutdown battle that ended earlier this month. Most Democratic lawmakers have insisted on a direct extension of the tax breaks, which expire at the end of the year, as a condition of keeping the government open.

Eligibility for Obamacare subsidies, which were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic to help people afford health care coverage, would be capped at 700% of the federal poverty level, according to two people familiar with the proposal. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the White House proposal, which is in draft form.

The basic tax credits that were originally part of the Affordable Care Act were capped at 400% of the federal poverty level, but that cap was suspended due to coronavirus-era temporary credits that allowed people with middle and upper incomes to take advantage of the subsidies as well.

Read more: 4 Tips for Navigating Higher ACA Health Care Premiums

The White House will also require those who sign up for Obamacare, regardless of type of coverage, to pay some type of premium for their Obamacare plans. This would effectively end zero-premium plans for low-income people, addressing Republican concerns that the program has enabled fraud. One option is to require everyone to pay 2% of their income, or at least $5 a month, to lower-tier plans.

Even with the White House’s proposal in flux, the idea of ​​extending any part of President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement is likely to anger conservatives who have sought to repeal and replace the law for more than a decade.

“Until President Trump makes an announcement himself, any reports about the administration’s health care positions are pure speculation,” White House spokesman Khush Desai said Monday.

He watches: How Americans covered through ACA exchanges are weathering spikes in premiums

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt told reporters Monday afternoon that Trump is “very engaged in these conversations” and that he is “focused on unveiling a health care proposal that would reform the system and lower costs for consumers.”

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But there are signs that parts of the nascent White House plan could win support from Democrats. New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, one of eight members of the Senate Democratic Caucus who voted to reopen the government earlier this month, said it “represents a starting point for serious negotiations.”

“The fact that President Trump is making any offer at all to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits shows that there is a broad understanding that inaction on this will cause serious harm to the American people,” Hassan said.

In 2017, Trump failed in his effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, an embarrassing defeat for Republicans who had just taken control of all the levers of power in Washington. The GOP has failed to coalesce around a unified health care proposal since then, and the end of pandemic-era government subsidies gives Trump and his party an opportunity to put their own stamp on the issue.

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While the White House quietly worked on its plan, led by the Domestic Policy Council, key lawmakers on Capitol Hill crafted their own proposals. For example, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy and others have proposed various ideas to redirect the program’s spending on federal subsidies into health savings accounts that enrollees can use to purchase plans or defray out-of-pocket costs.

The White House’s draft plan would allow those in lower-tier plans, such as bronze or catastrophic plans, to put money into health savings accounts.

It would also codify a “Program Integrity Rule” to further help eliminate fraud, waste and abuse.

Read more: The shutdown deal does not extend health benefits that expire. What happens to them now?

Americans shopping for Obamacare coverage have already faced the shock of higher prices, because the window to choose next year’s coverage began on November 1. Without action by Congress, the average subsidized enrollee will face more than double their current cost in premiums next year, according to an analysis by the health care research nonprofit KFF.

Recent national polls have shown that Americans are concerned about health care costs, along with broader affordability issues. These concerns emerged in the elections earlier this month, which brought to power Democrats whose political messaging focused on the rising cost of living.

Associated Press writers Fatima Hussein in Washington and Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.