The US Senate on Thursday failed to pass either of two competing plans to stave off a looming shock to millions of Americans who are forced by the Obamacare law to buy their insurance on the misnamed “Affordable Care Act exchanges.” Thousands of Alaskan small business owners pay monthly premiums of well over $1,500 per person for health insurance that comes with large deductibles.
Both Democratic and Republican bills to extend or replace the expiring enhanced premium tax credits fell short of the 60 votes needed, all but guaranteeing that the extra subsidies created during the pandemic will lapse on Jan. 1, as they were designed to do when the funding extension was agreed on after the Covid pandemic.
Democrats pushed for a three-year extension of the boosted subsidies enacted in the 2021 American Rescue Plan, which most likely would lead to another extension in another three years. They passed those subsidies on a party-line vote, set the expiration date themselves, and repeatedly assured the public that the temporary program wouldn’t create a meltdown when it ended.
For years, critics have warned that the “subsidy cliff” baked into Obamacare extensions would return with a vengeance once the extra federal aid ran out. Those warnings were ignored, and now families are staring at premium increases that analysts say will jump.
Faced with their own policy deadline, Democrats erupted on cable news, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar lashing out at President Donald Trump for the crisis their party designed. But the facts are stubborn: Democrats wrote the ACA subsidy expansion, passed it without a single Republican vote, and set it to expire this year. Now that premiums are on track to double for many households, they are searching for someone else to blame.
Republicans, meanwhile, offered an alternative built around Health Savings Accounts, more coverage flexibility, and direct financial support to Americans instead of funneling billions more to insurance companies. Their plan, backed by President Trump, also fell short, failing 51-48. GOP lawmakers argued that their bill would have empowered families to manage their own health costs rather than further entrench the ACA’s subsidy structure.
Both votes were promised as part of the bipartisan deal that ended the nation’s longest government shutdown earlier this month. But after Thursday’s outcome, Congress left town until Jan. 5, with no viable path forward and open-enrollment deadlines already closing in. Without action, an estimated 2 million people could lose coverage, and households nationwide will shoulder roughly $83 billion in additional premium costs over the next decade.
Democrats call Thursday’s vote a Republican assault on health care access, while conservatives counter that the ACA’s subsidy architecture is unsustainable, prone to waste, and now collapsing under the weight of the very provisions Democrats built into it.
5 thoughts on “Obamacare subsidies extension fails in Senate”
“GOP lawmakers argued that their bill would have empowered families to manage their own health costs rather than further entrench the ACA’s subsidy structure”
I have an even better idea: do yourself and your family a favor and look into health sharing ministries, like Samaritan or Christian. Think it sounds wonky or too religious? Do some research. Our family has navigated nearly $200k in medical bills over the last 12 years with Samaritan. It’s not health insurance, but sharing the burden of medical bills with other members while praying for each other. Samaritan also has tools available to shop around for the most affordable care available so you can find the treatments you want, rather than being pigeon-holed into whatever treatment your ins company will pay for.
It’s worth looking into.
It is obvious that President Obama’s “ Affordable Care Act” is UNAFFORDABLE. Far too often, national policies are based on LIES.
Obamacare was always designed to fail.
And yet the Dems have condemned the people to such a failure in policy. The Dems have the lying media matrix on their side. But both sides have had 15 years to fix it or create alternatives. Nada. They’re both at fault.
In a year from now, impotent Sullivan and Begich will tap into their well-worn thesaurus of weasel words to both distance themselves from Trump and praise him. Poor things. What a drag to gleefully give up one’s integrity to the most despicable and corrupt asshole in the history of the universe.