President Donald Trump thinks a bipartisan healthcare bill aimed at stabilising Obamacare by restoring subsidies to health insurers is a step in the right direction but he does not support the measure, the White House says.
"We've said all along that we want something that just doesn't bail out the insurance companies but actually provides relief for all Americans. And this bill doesn't address that fact," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders on Wednesday.
"We think that this is a good step in the right direction. This president certainly supports Republicans and Democrats coming to work together, but it's not a full approach and we need something to go a little bit further to get on board."
Earlier on Wednesday Trump said he would "not do anything to enrich" insurance companies.
Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, who reached the agreement with Democratic Senator Patty Murray, said earlier that Trump had "completely engineered" the proposal.
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"We're going to see the bipartisan and Lamar Alexander's working on it very hard from our side and if something can happen that's fine, but I won't do anything to enrich the insurance companies," Trump told reporters when asked about the deal.
"Right now the insurance companies are being enriched. They've been enriched by Obamacare like nothing anybody's ever seen before," he said.
