Jeffrey Lord says Donald Trump is the 'Martin Luther King of health care'

Jeffrey Lord literally said Donald Trump is the MLK of health care.
(Image credit: Screenshot/CNN)

President Trump on Wednesday threatened to hold health care for millions of Americans hostage in a bid to force Democrats to work with him. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Trump floated the idea of canceling some $7 billion in ObamaCare cost-sharing subsidies for low-income insurance buyers, known as "cost-sharing reductions." Those so-called CSRs allow insurers to collect reimbursements for providing certain insurance plans, The Huffington Post explains, which enables them to offer coverage with lower premiums that poorer families can afford.

"ObamaCare is dead next month if it doesn't get that money," Trump told The Wall Street Journal, adding, "I don't want people to get hurt." Trump touted the idea as a way to force Democrats to the negotiating table, but seemed to think less about the serious health-care repercussions that would befall millions of Americans if he does indeed cut the subsidies.

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Kimberly Alters

Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.