(Reuters) -Shares of health insurers with plans under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, fell 7% to 1.5% premarket on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said federal funds subsidizing those plans must be redirected to Americans buying coverage.

The subsidies, which are due to expire at the end of the year, were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to help lower-income Americans pay for private health insurance and are at the heart of the longest-ever federal shutdown that has sidelined federal workers, delayed food aid and snarled air travel.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, blasting the subsidies as a “windfall for Health Insurance Companies, and a DISASTER for the American people”. He repeated a call for funds to be sent directly to individuals to buy c

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