Senators say bipartisan compromise on ACA tax credits has stalled

Washington — Republican senators said Thursday that a long-sought bipartisan compromise to extend the expired Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credits for two years has stalled.

"We are in a little bit of a pothole," GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio said, blaming Democratic leaders for the lack of movement on the issue. "So for me, I'm going to take a pause until I hear affirmative statements from the Democrat leader and his leadership team that they are willing to contemplate a deal that extends these enhanced premium tax credits with the reforms that we've outlined."

Moreno previously had expected the compromise to be unveiled sometime this week.

He said the proposal that has been discussed would extend the Affordable Care Act's open enrollment period until March 1. The federal deadline to enroll for coverage this year ends Thursday, though some state-run marketplaces have different cutoff dates. More than 20 million Americans rely on the ACA subsidies to help them pay their health insurance premiums.

"Until I hear affirmative statements from the Democrat leader that he is going to encourage his conference to vote for that, there's really no reason why we should spend any more time or effort on this," Moreno said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Moreno "is trying to distract from the reality."

"The credits expired and Americans are paying thousands more because Republicans can't get their act together," Schumer said.

The Hyde amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortion, remains a point of contention. Some Republicans want additional Hyde amendment language to be included the health care bill to ensure it applies to coverage in state-run exchanges. President Trump recently encouraged GOP lawmakers to be "flexible" on the issue. Any abortion restrictions could be a nonstarter for Democrats, where their votes are needed in the Senate for passage.

"We got hung up on what everybody knew the Republicans would get hung up on — that was the Hyde language. And so there's been kind of a pause right now," GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said Thursday. "Then, we've all known that in order to be able to advance something, we're going to have to have buy-in from the White House."

The subsidies were at the center of the government shutdown fight last year, when Democrats refused for weeks to vote to fund the government without an extension of the tax credits. A group of Democrats eventually broke with their party to end the stalemate and reopen the government after securing an agreement for a vote on extending the tax credits. But the GOP-led Senate rejected Democrats' attempt to pass a three-year extension without any reforms.

Lawmakers have long been pursuing a bipartisan compromise to address rising health care costs. The effort was bolstered last week when 17 Republicans helped propel Democrats' plan to revive the subsidies in the House. Though it has no chance of clearing the Senate, some lawmakers said it would serve as a vehicle for the forthcoming compromise.

"The Senate needs a vehicle, because this is a tax bill and it has to originate in the House," Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, one of the Republicans who voted for the Democratic measure, said last week. "The three-year discharge is that vehicle. We all know the three-year [bill] is not going to become law. It failed in the Senate already."

So far, Democratic leaders have not endorsed the plan to emerge from the Senate. Last week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, said they were focused on the three-year extension, but would consider any "good faith" effort from Republicans that provides a "meaningful extension" of the subsidies.

On Monday, Jeffries again called on the Senate to vote on the three-year extension.

"The only path forward at this moment is for Senate Republicans to do the right thing by the American people and pass the damn bill that we sent over to you," he told reporters at a news conference.

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