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Republicans Filibuster Bill Averting Health Care Premium Hikes Next Year

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked Democratic legislation that would have extended enhanced tax credits for over 20 million people enrolled in the Affordable Care Act for the next three years, setting up big health insurance premium hikes next year.

The 51-48 vote capped a bitter months-long battle in Congress over health care that included the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. In exchange for voting to reopen the government last month, a group of moderate Democrats received assurances that they’d at least get a chance to vote to extend the subsidies, which lapse at the end of the year. As many Democrats foresaw at the time, it went nowhere.

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Still, four Republican senators joined every Democrat in voting for the bill: Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.

Republicans, meanwhile, offered a competing plan on Thursday as political cover for vulnerable members ahead of next year’s midterm elections that also failed to advance due to Democratic opposition. The GOP plan would not have extended the subsidies, which were originally passed by Democrats amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but rather replaced them with taxpayer-funded Health Savings Accounts. The vote on that measure was 51-48, with GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky being the lone senator to cross party lines by siding against it.

The doomed votes led to yet another round of finger-pointing in the Senate as health insurance costs are about to soar for people enrolled in Obamacare — and some who are not. Republicans said the need for additional financial support showed why Obamacare is broken, while Democrats accused Republicans of needlessly allowing people to suffer, vowing to make them pay at the ballot box next year.

Although the Senate is expected to leave town next week for its holiday break without a deal on health care, some Republicans in the House are mounting a last-ditch effort to force a vote on extending the ACA tax credits. Many House GOP lawmakers are afraid of losing their narrow majority next year, and they’re now scrambling to come up with a solution on health care after ignoring the issue all year. Others have decided they’d simply retire after next year, in yet another sign of growing GOP pessimism about holding on to control of the House.

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On Wednesday, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) filed a “discharge petition” that could force the House to vote on a bill he’s cosponsoring with Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) to extend the subsidies.

“I think every member, regardless of party, needs to ask themselves a question: Are these expiring subsidies going to hurt their constituents?” Fitzpatrick said to reporters. “Their job is to represent their people back home. Is it going to hurt them? If the answer is yes, then if they’re doing their job, they’re going to sign this petition.”

The petition had 10 Republican signatures but only three from Democrats as of Thursday morning. Golden seemed optimistic that more Democrats would sign on, but almost all House Democrats are already backing another health care discharge petition by Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). The Jeffries bill would extend the Obamacare subsidies for three years; the Fitzpatrick-Golden bill would extend them for two years with some restrictions.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) began assembling a Republican response bill just this week that would include a variety of proposals aimed at reducing health care costs but would not extend the subsidies. The proposals would likely be less comprehensive in offering insurance coverage than the Affordable Care Act.

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Lawmakers could come back after the holidays and tackle the ACA tax credits in January, but they’ll be under pressure again to pass a bill keeping the government running. Government funding expires Jan. 30, giving Senate Democrats another leverage point over the issue. Some Democrats have suggested withholding government funding again as a way to rein in President Donald Trump’s administration.

“I’m not gonna vote to fund democracy’s destruction,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said. “I’m not voting for any continuing resolution or any full-year funding bill unless it has protections against Trump’s corruption and illegality.”

But Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said that forcing another shutdown isn’t likely.

“The whole point of the shutdown was to bring people to the table and to highlight the issue. It’s hard for me right now to see how that tactic would work,” he told HuffPost.

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A few Senate Republicans have suggested addressing the issue of the ACA tax credits in another partisan reconciliation bill next year. But that idea has little support among their colleagues on the Hill and in the White House.

Asked Wednesday if he wants to see another big legislative package move through Congress next year, Trump told reporters, “We don’t need it.”

Trump has been completely disengaged from health care talks, even as he tries to change the narrative that his administration is struggling to get a handle on rising prices and the high cost of living. On Tuesday, he traveled to the battleground state of Pennsylvania, where he called “affordability” a “new word” made up by Democrats to criticize him. He’s repeatedly referred to it as a “con job” and a “hoax,” insisting the economy is doing just fine despite polls showing that even MAGA voters are giving him poor marks on bringing costs down.

Trump’s optimism is not shared by some members of his party, who believe that letting the ACA subsidies lapse could hurt the GOP in the midterm elections next year.

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“If you’re not concerned, then you’re living in a cave,” Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) said. “If you’re not watching the elections that are happening all the time, then you’re living in a cave.”