Conservatives rebel on health care, Trump backs key elements
WASHINGTON — Republicans confronted a conservative rebellion in their own party Tuesday over their long-promised plans to repeal and replace the health care law, and beseeched President Donald Trump to settle the dispute.
In his first speech to a joint session of Congress Trump embraced a key element of the emerging House GOP health plan, in comments that cheered Republican House leaders and could help bring conservatives back in line.
Trump’s remarks were short on details, but for the first time he announced his support for tax credits to help consumers buy health care. House GOP leaders are structuring their health plan around those tax credits, but they’ve been running into trouble with conservatives in the House and Senate who say they amount to a costly new entitlement.
“We should help Americans purchase their own coverage, through the use of tax credits and expanded Health Savings Accounts – but it must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by the government,” Trump said as he called on Republicans to make good on long-held promises to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law and replace it with something better.