Paul Ryan doesn't want to restore Obamacare subsidies

MADISON - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan signaled Monday he does not want to restore Obamacare subsidies that President Donald Trump is cutting. 

Instead, Ryan said, Congress should take a more comprehensive approach and repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — something the U.S. Senate has failed to do despite multiple attempts this year. 

"I think we’ve got to do more to get it fixed, but the answer is not to shovel more money at a failing program that is doubling premiums and causing monopolies," the Janesville Republican told reporters. "The answer is to reform the underlying failure of the law and one of those underlying failures is the lack of choice and competition in health insurance.

"Propping up Obamacare and just giving insurance subsidies to insurance carriers to keep a failing system propped up is not the answer."

Ryan spoke to reporters at the Monona Terrace convention center after addressing the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Foundation about Congress' efforts to overhaul the tax code. 

Last week, Trump said he would no longer fund subsidies for insurers on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Ryan praised that decision, arguing it was unconstitutional for President Barack Obama to pay them without congressional approval. 

RELATED:Trump's move to end insurance subsidies jolts Washington

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, last week said Trump had created "chaos" with the move and called for bipartisan action on the issue. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) have proposed providing the subsidies for two more years.

Ryan would not specifically respond to that proposal but signaled he did not want to adopt that approach. Instead, he touted the package by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) that died in the Senate last month that would have repealed Obamacare and allowed states to reshape their health care markets and set up high-risk pools. 

"We need comprehensive reform that actually lowers people's premiums, gives states the ability to set up their marketplaces and that is what the House passed, that is what they (in the Senate) tried to pass with Graham-Cassidy," Ryan said. "We’ll see if a consensus can be found to get real reform — not paper reform — but real reform."

Martha Laning, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, criticized Ryan for this stance. 

"Ryan supports cruelly sabotaging the health care of millions of Americans, even though he knows that ending cost-sharing will cause chaos in the market," she said in a statement. "Democrats know people have the right to health care and Ryan is helping Trump take it away."

Also last week, Trump said he would not certify the international nuclear deal with Iran, kicking the issue to Congress. Ryan applauded that decision but did not say if Congress would do anything on it.

RELATED:Trump de-certifies Iran nuclear deal, announces more sanctions against Iran

"I do think there is so much more to be done to prevent Iran from doing all the things it is doing to destabilize the region, so I think the president is right to call this deal a bad deal and to do things to make it better," Ryan said. 

In his remarks to the business group — as well as to reporters afterward — Ryan said cutting and simplifying taxes would help boost the economy.

"We want to unleash American competitiveness," he told reporters. "Tax reform, we are convinced, is going to make it so that American businesses can hire more people, we can get bigger paychecks, better take-home pay. That gives us faster economic growth."

He said the tax overhaul could be achieved by the end of the year, but cautioned that the effort could face challenges in the Senate, where Republicans have a narrow 52-48 majority.

“I feel pretty confident we’re going to get it done (in the House), but the Senate is always a pretty narrow needle to thread," Ryan told the group.