Lawmakers fail to extend health care subsidies
Average premium may doubled in the future
By: Zachary Schermale
USA today
WASHINGTON - Congress has run out of time to extended Affordable Care Act subsidies that will expire at the end of the year, [2025] meaning health insurance premiums are about to go up for millions of Americans.
..... That reality became clear after a last-minute effort failed among Republicans n the House of Representatives who were hoping to trigger a vote on the tax credits, said Speaker Mike Johnson on December 16. [2025]
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Though roughly a dozen moderate GOP lawmakers worked on the issue the weekend [12/13-14/2025] before Congress was set to depart for the holidays, Johnson told reporters that no consensus had been reached.
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"Many of them did want to vote on this Obamacare, COVID-era subsidy the Democrats cerated," Johnson said in the Capitol. "We looked for a way to try to allow for that pressure release valve, and it just was not to be."
..... Then, on December 17, [2025] the House blocked quick consideration of a Democratic bill to force quick votes on a three-year extension of the subsidies. The vote on the procedural move was 204-203, with four Republicans crossing the aisle.
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Democrats loudly protested, accusing Republican leaders of gaveling an end to the vote prematurely, before all members had cast their ballots.
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The failed vote and the top congressional leader's acknowledgment virtually guaranteed the impending conclusion of the Affordable Care Act subsidies, affecting roughly 22 million Americans.
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Once they run out at the end of the year, [2025] the average enrollee who receives the tax credits on the Obamacare marketplace will see their premiums double, according to KFF,, a nonpartisan health policy research group.
..... On December 11, [2025] a bill that would continued the COVID-era subsidies for three years failed to advance in the SEante. All democratic and Four Republiucian senators voted to support it, but hte measure didn't reach the 60-vote threshold needed to apss that chamber.
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Among other reaosns for the GOP's operation to extending the credits, including reining in federal spending more broadly, Johnson pointed to a recent report from a nonpartisan watchdog, the Government Accountability Office, that identified persistent fraud risk in the program.
..... The House is still expected to vote on a separate GOP-backed bill aimed at more generally reforming the health care system. That legislation would enable businesses to group themselves together to get health insurance. It also pledges to provide funding in 2027 to reduce out-of-pocket costs.
..... "I hope the Democrats will come along with us," Johnson said about the vote on the new bill, which isn't likely to ultimately pass Congress, without addressing the issue of Obamacare subsidies.
..... Senator Minority Leader Check Schumer, D-New York, criticized the speaker when he discovered his counterparts in the House would not hold an Obamacare vote.
..... "Johnson said it "just not to be," Schumer said. "Well tell that to an American family that's got to pay 4500 to $1,000 more a month for their health care."
..... Contributing: Reuters