Key senators just reached a deal to save the Obamacare payments Trump just killed

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Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander told reporters Tuesday that he and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray have reached a deal that would formally appropriate Obamacare’s cost sharing reduction (CSR) payments.

The deal, which has been in the works since August, comes less than a week after President Donald Trump said his administration would stop the payments, saying it could not legally continue to do so.

CSR payments help to defray costs to insurers that are mandated to provide plans with low out-of-pocket costs to poorer Americans.

Here’s a rundown of what the preliminary plan includes, according to a congressional aide:

Fund CSR payments for the rest of 2017 and then through 2019.
Restore $106 million in outreach to encourage people to sign up for Obamacare plans during the upcoming open-enrollment period.
Allow states to implement on reinsurance programs, which helps to mitigate losses for insurers with assistance from the government ad is designed to lower costs for consumers.
Expedite approvals for what are known as "1332 waivers," which allow states to make changes to their Obamacare exchanges as long as they lower costs.
Allow people over the age of 30 to sign up for catastrophic or "copper" plans, which do not abide by the basic coverage mandates of Obamacare but have cheaper premiums.

"We’re ironing out a few of the last details right now, but I’m very optimistic that we’ll be able to make an announcement with all the details very soon," Murray said at a press conference.

Alexander said that the plan will be introduced to members of both parties this afternoon and afterwards the duo will be "seeking cosponsors of the legislation hopefully to introduce later in the week."

The Alexander-Murray talks were quashed by Republican leadership in September in favor of an attempt to pass the Graham-Cassidy legislation that would have repealed and replaced the Affordable Care Act. The two senators are the chair and ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, Pensions Committee, respectively.

At a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday, Trump endorsed the deal and said the White House was "involved" with the talks.

It is unclear whether the deal can succeed in Congress, given that House Speaker Paul Ryan previously said he would not bring a stabilization bill to the floor.

Democratic leadership supports the plan, according to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

"First, I want to salute both Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray for working hard on a bipartisan solution," Schumer said at a press conference. "We think it’s a good solution, and it got broad support when Patty and I talked about it at the caucus at lunch today."

With the bipartisan support, Eric Assaraf, an analyst at Cowen Washington Research Group, said that the plan would likely pass, though he said it could take some time.

"We believe the market stabilization bill would likely garner enough votes for passage and would be signed into law as President Trump has expressed his desire for a short-term fix to Sen. Alexander after moving to end CSR payments last week," Assaraf wrote in a note to clients.

Conservatives have had an immediate mix in reactions. Rep. Mark Walker, chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said that he would not support the package.

"The GOP should focus on repealing & replacing Obamacare, not trying to save it," Walker said, via the committee’s Twitter account. "This bailout is unacceptable."

But Rep. Mark Meadows, chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, called it "a good start."

"Not sure it goes far enough to lower premiums but limited duration plans and HSA expansion might provide better conservative support," Meadows told reporters. "I certainly applaud the senators for working hard to address premiums."

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