On Thursday afternoon, the Senate rejected extending Obamacare subsidies, refusing to let taxpayers mask the skyrocketing costs of health insurance premiums caused by Barack Obama’s 2010 signature legislation.
“Senators rejected a Democratic bill to extend the subsidies for three years and a Republican alternative that would have created new health savings accounts — an unceremonious end to a monthslong effort by Democrats to prevent the COVID-19-era subsidies from expiring on Jan. 1,” the Associated Press reported. “Ahead of the votes, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned Republicans that if they did not vote to extend the tax credits, ‘there won’t be another chance to act,’ before premiums rise for many people who buy insurance off the ACA marketplaces.”
“Let’s avert a disaster,” Schumer pleaded. “The American people are watching.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said ahead of the vote that a simple extension of the subsidies is “an attempt to disguise the real impact of Obamacare’s spiraling health care costs.”
But Democrats immediately rejected the GOP plan, saying that the accounts wouldn’t be enough to cover costs for most consumers.
The dueling Senate votes are the latest political messaging exercise in a Congress that has operated almost entirely on partisan terms, as Republicans pushed through a massive tax and spending cuts bill this summer using budget maneuvers that eliminated the need for Democratic votes. In September, Republicans tweaked Senate rules to push past a Democratic blockade of all of Trump’s nominees.
Four Republicans: Sens. Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Lisa Murkowski, and Dan Sullivan voted with the Democrats, but the legislation needed 60 votes to proceed, as did the Republican bill, which was also blocked on a 51-48 vote.
Some Republicans, like Sen. Thom Tillis, pushed for a short-term extension of the ACA subsidies, arguing the issue is “too complicated and too difficult to get done in the limited time that we have left.” The idea was to buy time and reach an agreement next year.
Even after a handful of Democrats struck a deal with Republicans last month to end the 43-day government shutdown in exchange for a vote on extending the subsidies, Democrats were unwilling to compromise.
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Republicans have used the expiring Obamacare subsidies to highlight the longstanding problems with the poorly named Affordable Care Act, which has only driven up health insurance costs, and have sought more meaningful ways to reduce costs rather than covering them up with subsidies.
Earlier this week, Senate GOP leadership said they would vote on a bill sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Health, Labor, Education, and Pensions Committee, and Sen. Mike Crapo, chairman of the Finance Committee. That came even as several Republican senators floated alternative proposals, highlighting ongoing disagreements within the party over how to handle the subsidies.
In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has promised a vote next week. Republicans weighed different options in a conference meeting on Wednesday, with no apparent consensus.
Republican moderates in the House who could have competitive reelection bids next year are pushing Johnson to find a way to extend the subsidies. But more conservative members want to see the law overhauled.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., has pushed for a temporary extension, which he said could be an opening to take further steps on health care.
It was always unlikely that the subsidies would pass, and Democrats are treating Obamacare like a sacred cow and have shown no interest in actually addressing its problems or the high costs it created.
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