White House says wants Obamacare mandates, taxes ended for health deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior White House adviser said on Thursday Congress would need to end Obamacare mandates and taxes as part of a proposed short-term deal to stabilize health insurance markets in order for President Donald Trump to sign on.

"The gist is we believe that the individual mandate should (be) repealed, employer mandate repealed and allow Americans to contribute to health savings accounts," White House legislative affairs director Marc Short told CNN.

"If we really want to reduce prices than we need to begin repealing the (Obamacare) mandates and repealing the taxes, and then we could have a deal," Short said. He said the administration was sending a list of the principles it would like to see in any legislation to the bill's co-authors and would likely make them public.

(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Tim Ahmann)