Uncertainty over the government’s next steps on Obamacare weighed on insurer shares on Tuesday, with Anthem Inc down 1.4 percent and Aetna Inc off 1.1 percent. UnitedHealth Group, which pulled out of the Obamacare individual insurance business, rose 0.3 percent after reporting a better-than-expected quarterly profit.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate would vote in the coming days on a full repeal of Obamacare with no replacement, but he did not appear to have the necessary support to push it through.
Some Republicans and Democrats say they should attempt a joint fix, but the deep divisions between the two parties were on display over the subsidies on Tuesday.
Democratic Senator Patty Murray said that bipartisan work can begin by having Congress fund the cost-sharing subsidies.
“We know that’s what needs to be done,” she said in an interview. “It would send a very strong message to the market.”
Several Republican senators were quick to deride the payments.
“Those who will be interested in moving an insurance bailout later this year should be ready to explain how they want to pay for it,” said Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.