Trump's healthcare plan could extend Obamacare subsidies. Here's what we know so far.

By Victor Reklaitis

The president's 'Healthcare Price Cuts Act' reportedly may let expiring Obamacare subsidies keep going for two more years

What's the latest with the expiring Obamacare subsidies that could affect 22 million Americans? An insurance agency in Miami is shown earlier this month.

A disagreement over expiring Obamacare subsidies triggered this fall's record-breaking government shutdown, but the shutdown ended without a resolution on this crucial pocketbook issue that affects an estimated 22 million Americans.

Now President Donald Trump is working on a proposal to address the matter, though it's not clear when an official release of it will happen. Multiple published reports on Monday afternoon indicated the rollout of Trump's healthcare plan was being postponed, after earlier saying it could come as soon as Monday.

Below are some key expectations.

-- Two-year extension for Obamacare subsidies: One element of Trump's plan could be a two-year extension of the Obamacare subsidies that are due to expire Dec. 31, according to a Politico report citing unnamed sources. But congressional Republicans have pushed back against the president's embrace of the expiring subsidies, and that's helped bring about the delay for the planned announcement of his healthcare proposal, according to a report from MS NOW, the news outlet previously known as MSNBC

-- A step toward giving money directly to people: Trump's proposal is likely to include an option for certain enrollees who choose a lower-tier Obamacare plan to direct federal aid into a health savings account, or HSA, according to a CNN report. The president has been calling for giving federal funding for healthcare straight to individuals, describing it as "SENDING THE MONEY DIRECTLY BACK TO THE PEOPLE."

-- All Obamacare enrollees pay some sort of monthly premium: The president's "Healthcare Price Cuts Act" is expected to end "zero-premium" subsidies, according to a report from MS NOW. That means there would be some sort of monthly premium paid by all enrollees in plans offered under Obamacare, formally called the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.

-- New income limits: Subsidies would be limited to individuals with income up to 700% of the federal poverty line, matching up with what has been discussed by a bipartisan group of senators, according to Politico's report.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested to reporters on Monday afternoon that details about the plan that have been reported so far might not match what's eventually released. "Sometimes you report things, and then President Trump comes out with an announcement, and those things are not always true from what you hear from sources inside the building," she said to reporters gathered outside the White House.

But she also emphasized that the White House is indeed working on a healthcare proposal.

"I will tell you that healthcare is a topic of discussion that's happening very frequently and robustly inside the West Wing. Right now, the president is very much involved in these talks, and he's very focused on unveiling a healthcare proposal that will fix the system and will bring down costs for consumers," Leavitt said. "As for the details of those discussions, I'll let the president speak for himself."

In response to MarketWatch's request for comment Monday morning, White House spokesman Kush Desai said in an email that until Trump "makes an announcement himself, any reporting about the Administration's healthcare positions is mere speculation."

Prospective news about Trump's proposal is hitting as the Senate plans to hold a vote by the second week of December on the Obamacare subsidies. Eight Senate Democrats agreed to provide support to reopen the government after their Republican colleagues promised that vote.

Trump's proposal may attract Democratic votes in the Senate, but it's unclear if it could get 60 votes, according to a team of Capital Alpha Partners analysts led by Kim Monk. Some Senate Republicans simply don't want to take a vote that preserves Obamacare's underlying structure, and another challenge is stronger Republican opposition in the House, the analysts said in a note.

"Demonstrating these challenges, there are already reports that the [White House] event may be delayed due to pushback from Congressional Republicans, so stay tuned," Capital Alpha's team added.

Other analysts have sounded more optimistic.

There is likely to be sufficient support for Trump's plan in the Senate, given that a top negotiator for Senate Democrats indicated that changes for income caps and for zero-dollar-premium plans would be OK, according to Chris Niebuhr, a senior research analyst at Beacon Policy Advisors. Limitations on the ability of Obamacare plans to cover abortion services could be a sticking point for Senate Democrats, but it's unclear for now whether Trump's proposal includes such restrictions, Niebuhr said in a note on Monday morning.

The largest impediment to an extension for the expiring Obamacare subsidies this year is likely to be the Republican-run House, and there probably will be opposition from GOP conservatives, but most House Republicans can be expected to fall in line behind Trump, Niebuhr added.

The president's schedule for Monday featured the signing of an executive order at around 4 p.m. Eastern, but the order wasn't related to healthcare, as it instead had to do with starting the process of designating certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as particular types of terrorist organizations.

Now read: Obamacare premiums are still in limbo after the government shutdown. How to pick your plan now.

-Victor Reklaitis

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11-24-25 1709ET