In the middle of it shutdown in the USA, the Donald Trump rekindled the health care debate by linking the budget crisis to the future of the Affordable Care Act, also known as “ObamaCare.”
In a message on the Truth Social platform on Saturday (08.11.2025), in the midst of the shutdown, Donald Trump called on Republican senators to stop paying “hundreds of billions of dollars” to insurance companies in the US, which, he says, “all they do is suck the money” to keep alive the “bad” health care program established under Barack Obama.
“I’m suggesting to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to the “snug” Insurance Companies to bail out the bad care provided by ObamaCare BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THEY CAN BUY MUCH BETTER HEALTHCARE and have money to spare,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“In other words, let’s take from the BIG, BAD Insurance Companies, give them to the world and, for every dollar spent, end the worst health care system anywhere in the world, ObamaCare. On top of that, we also need to do away with the filibuster!” he added.
So Trump is proposing that the federal funds that currently go to insurers under ObamaCare be given directly to beneficiaries. His touted goal: Americans to be able to buy themselves “better health insurance coverage” and, he claims, have money to spare. However, the president has not given any specific clarification on the mechanism that would be applied, nor on the exact amount of the amounts.
This position comes at a time when the political confrontation surrounding the shutdown is paralyzing part of the federal administration. Presenting his idea as a possible “deal” to make progress, Donald Trump is attempting to shift the debate back to Republican-friendly territory: challenging ObamaCare and attacking private insurance companies, which he accuses of exploiting the system. Whether this – currently extremely vague – proposal will turn into a legislative initiative or remain at the level of a political slogan remains to be seen.