Trump Administration Makes ACA’s Health-Insurer Payments for September

White House declines to block ‘cost sharing’ funds this month amid renewed GOP health-care push.

President Donald Trump has regularly threatened to cut off the payments, which total billions of dollars a year, as part of his party's broader bid to overturn or weaken the 2010 Affordable Care Act. The Tuesday announcement came as Mr. Trump's White House is throwing its weight behind a revived, last-ditch attempt by Republican senators to undo the law they call Obamacare.

The uncertainty surrounding the payments has unsettled many in the insurance industry, where health plans say they have factored the payments into their premiums for existing health policies. They warn that an abrupt halt could force them to pull out of certain markets. Insurers now must wait each month to see if the next payment is coming.

In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has struck a more conciliatory tone with Democratic congressional leaders, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York. Democrats say they've urged Mr. Trump privately to keep making the payments,with an eye to a permanent authorization that would remove any uncertainty over their status...