Congress went a year without reaching a deal on health care, leaving Affordable Care Act Subsidies That helped drive down insurance prices for about 22 million Americans that expired on Dec. 31, without taking action to combat expected subsequent cost increases.
As the end of subsidies approaches, families and individual Americans are bracing for immediate consequences. Monthly payments to millions of ACA market participants would double or even triple without the tax breaks that made their premiums cheaper. Congressional Budget Office Analysts estimate that the error could leave approximately 4 million more Americans uninsured. warning wider consequences in the coming years
The expanded subsidies were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and renewed by Democrats in 2022. For many low-income Americans, they have led to free or nearly free insurance. For higher-income recipients, they cut premiums sharply. Lower costs have fueled a surge in enrollment, especially among Americans in Republican-led Southern states where enrollment had previously lagged.
Read more: What the End of Obamacare Subsidies Could Mean for Your Health Insurance
Democrats have pushed for months to further extend the subsidies, making it a key demand in the spending standoff that led to the government shutdown this fall. A Senate Democratic caucus ultimately broke with the party and reopened the government on the condition that a vote on extending the term would take place in December. But legislators left Washington without holding a single meeting.
Four House Republicans from swing districts defied party leadership and joined the Democratic-led party. petition for dismissal force the House to vote on a three-year extension. Speaker Mike Johnson, who refused to bring the issue to a vote before the holidays, will be required to do so when Congress resumes in the new year. A vote is expected on January 5, when the House of Representatives returns to session.
Even if the bill passes the House when it comes up for a vote next month, Senate Republicans are likely to block it, as they did with a similar Democratic proposal earlier this month. But some lawmakers said they hope it will help lawmakers move closer to passing the health care law.
“I believe that if the bill is brought to the floor, not only will it pass, but it will give the Senate the opportunity to come to a bipartisan compromise and actually pass something into law,” Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, one of the Republicans who signed the dismissal petition. said Wednesday on NBC's “Meet The Press Now.”
Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine told NBC News that the House of Representatives, which passed the bill, would “maintain momentum” but refused to support it.
“What we're trying to do is put together a bipartisan bill that would include reforms and a two-year extension,” Collins said. “In my opinion, this is the best approach and we are making good progress.”
Appearing on ABC's “This Week” with Jonathan Karl, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. shrugged it off Comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who said the net three-year extension would end upon arrival in the Senate. Jeffries said Thune is “not serious about protecting the health care of the American people.”
“It will pass with a bipartisan majority, and then that will put pressure on John Thune and the Senate Republicans to actually do the right thing by the American people: pass a direct extension of the Affordable Care Act tax breaks so that we can keep health care affordable for the tens of millions of Americans who deserve to be able to see a doctor when they need one,” Jeffries said.
Meanwhile, Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul: said On Sunday, he remained opposed to extending subsidies, instead promoting an alternative health care proposal based on expanding Association health plans that would allow consumers to band together to negotiate lower premiums.
Earlier this month, Paul was the only Republican senator to vote against a GOP proposal to create government-sponsored health savings accounts.
“We have health care in this country for poor people. It's called Medicaid. Anything else doesn't work,” Paul said in an interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl. “Obamacare has failed. President Obama said it would lower premiums; premiums have skyrocketed. Every time we give more subsidies, premiums go up.”
The Republican proposal passed by the House on Wednesday, which would not extend the subsidies, is also unlikely to win support in the Senate. “I would expect that the vote count, if it were simple, probably would not be the same as last week,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. NBC Newsapparently citing the failure of a separate GOP bill in the Senate.
Meanwhile, subsidies are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels before Congress returns, leaving millions of people to navigate steep increases in insurance premiums. And with price changes expected, the ACA marketplace open enrollment deadline for this year is quickly approaching. January 15. Experts proposed some options Americans should consider as they look for ways to make their insurance coverage more affordable.
Read more: Where rising Obamacare prices could hit hardest next year
Each side blamed the other for rising health care prices. President Donald Trump gave a 20-minute speech Wednesday. address in which he blamed Democrats for high spending, saying his administration's policies were a relief. “This is the Affordable Care Act,” he said. “Democrats are responsible.”
Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress are placing blame on their Republican colleagues for inaction as the expiration date for ACA subsidies approaches.
“Republicans still have a chance to cut health care costs. But they still seem determined not to do it,” said Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Traffic lights.
Another deadline approaches in the new year: Congress passed a short-term spending bill in November. government openingwill fund the government only until Jan. 30, meaning it will shut down again if lawmakers can't reach an agreement by that date.
Trump told a crowd of supporters at a rally in North Carolina on Friday that Democrats would “shut down the government” again, accusing them of being “beholden” to insurance companies.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, however, insists that Democrats will not tie the spending bill to the renewal of subsidies in the new year.
Talking to Punchbowl NewsSchumer noted that expanded Obamacare subsidies would expire by Jan. 30 and said Republicans have shown they are unable to reach a bipartisan deal. He added that Democrats believe they have succeeded in making health care a top issue for voters next November.
“As of January 1st, this is a different time than before because the A.C.A. [subsidies] expired,” Schumer said. “On the other hand, we would like to prepare an appropriations bill. That deadline is January 30th… We’re trying to work with Republicans to get that done.”
“We are now working on appropriations bills to prevent another shutdown.” said Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico acknowledges the human stakes in the legislative impasse: “We'll see what January brings. But people are hurting. Everything is getting more expensive.”
