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House Speaker Paul Ryan arrives to speak with the media following a conference meeting on Capitol Hill on Wednesday

House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday rejected a push from Democrats to include funding for a set of Affordable Care Act payments in a must-pass spending bill as negotiations on the measure continued.

Without passage of a spending bill, the government will partially shut down Saturday morning. It would be the first shutdown since 2013.

Asked about the Democratic demand during a press conference, Ryan replied: Were not doing that.

He said the administration would have to do that separately in a later appropriations bill.

Despite this stance, Ryan said that a bill to fund the government was really close.

The administration, OMB, along with our appropriators are down to the last final things. I think were making really good progress, Ryan said.

The Wall Street Journal reported that some Hill Democrats dont view the cost-sharing payments which pay back insurers for the increased cost of certain plans on the ACAs marketplaces as something that has to be in the spending bill in order for them to support it.

While it might not cause a government shutdown, not including the ACA payments in the bill puts more uncertainty on the future of Obamacare.

If health insurers are denied the payments, they would face revenue shortfalls, according to the respected non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation, and would need to raise the cost of health plans.

Big premium increases 19% on average or higher, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated could, in turn, cause ACA enrollment to decline, threatening a key measure of the health care laws success.

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Ryan rejects Democrat demand to put Obamacare funding in must-pass bill to keep government running - MarketWatch