President Trump said he is holding private discussions with Democratic lawmakers on a proposal to replace Obamacare by providing Americans with direct financial support to purchase their own health insurance.

Trump described the idea as a response to what he views as excessive profits in the insurance industry, saying companies have seen “stock is up over 1,000%” while taking in “hundreds of billions of dollars.”

In his remarks, Trump said the concept emerged during the recent government shutdown.

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“I’ve had personal talks with some Democrats. I can’t tell you who they are. I just don’t want to do that. It’s not fair to them about paying large amounts of dollars back to the people,” he said.

Trump added that the financial gains of insurance companies prompted him to look for an alternative.

“The insurance companies are making a fortune. Their stock is up over 1,000% over a short period of time. They are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars, and they’re not really putting it back, certainly not like they should.”

Trump explained how the proposal developed. “So when I see this and when I’ve seen this over the last pretty short period of time, I said, Why do we why don’t we just pay this money directly to the people of our country and let them buy their own health insurance?”

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He said the idea quickly gained traction.

“And you know, I made that statement, and I made it a little bit cavalierly, but it sounded good, and everybody is picked up, including Democrats. And we, I am talking to some Democrats right now about doing that.”

According to Trump, the plan would take money that currently moves through the insurance system and direct it to individuals instead.

“People love it. We’re going to take the money. Well, if it gets approved, we’re going to take the money, we’re going to pay it back to the people of our country to go out and buy health insurance,” he said.

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Trump said the funds could be provided in multiple formats, including health accounts.

“Now they can put it in a health account. We can do it a lot of different ways, but they buy their own health insurance,” he said.

He added that individuals would be able to negotiate their own prices and that limits would be placed on the accounts to ensure the money is used for appropriate coverage.

“They can negotiate price, and it’s going to be locked so they can’t go out and buy a Cadillac. They can go out and buy health insurance.”

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