White House divided on whether to keep ObamaCare subsidies going

The aides have limited time to figure things out; health plans must decide in June whether to stay in Obamacare insurance markets next year or pull out. If billions of dollars of cost-sharing subsidies dry up, the plans are more likely to leave, possibly quite rapidly. Millions of people could lose their coverage — and polls show people are becoming more likely to blame health law problems on President Donald Trump than on his predecessor.

One key lawmaker said sentiment is running toward preserving the subsidies to keep the insurance market stable — an irony given that the House Republicans went to court to stop the Obama White House from spending the money without a congressional appropriation. Congress had refused to authorize the spending as it sought to undermine the health law. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the cost for this year would be about $7 billion…

White House adviser Steve Bannon and his allies have argued to stop the subsidies, although even the hard-core Obamacare foes worry about the fallout from a precipitous collapse, according to sources inside and outside of the administration.

Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and chief economic adviser Gary Cohn want to preserve the subsidies for now, those sources say.