Senate to vote on duplicate health care proposals with little sign of: NPR

With subsidies for the Affordable Care Act set to expire for millions of Americans at the end of the month, the Senate plans to vote on two health care-related bills Thursday, but both are expected to fail.

In a compromise aimed at reopening the government after the longest shutdown in U.S. history, Senate Republicans promised Democrats a vote on a bill of their choosing to extend the subsidies. Democrats are calling for a three-year extension of the subsidies, warning that without it, health care premiums are expected to skyrocket in early 2026.

Even though both parties agree on the need to reduce health care costs, the Democratic proposal does not have enough support from the Republican Party to pass. Republicans have argued that extending the subsidies would enable what they describe as the “waste, fraud and abuse” of Obamacare, while lining the pockets of insurance companies.

“There is nothing in their [Democrats] bill that stops billions of dollars of fraudulent spending,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Republicans are fighting back with a plan from Cassidy and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, that would provide up to $1,500 a year in payments for health savings accounts for Americans earning less than 700 percent of the federal poverty level.

However, the bill does not extend ACA tax credits and the money could not be used to pay health care premiums. Deductibles for these plans average about $7,000, according to data from health policy organization KFF.

“It delivers the benefit directly to the patient, not the insurance company, and it does it in a way that actually saves the taxpayer money,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

Democrats rejected the GOP proposal Wednesday and called it dead on arrival. They criticized the plan to limit coverage to plans in the ACA marketplace that offer less coverage. Funds also could not be spent on abortion services or sex reassignment.

“The Crapo-Cassidy bill would not extend the ACA tax credits for a single day. That’s what’s driving up prices, and they’re not doing anything about it,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Democrats also pushed back the GOP’s timetable, as Republicans spent weeks debating an alternative health care bill and only unveiled their proposal on Tuesday.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., criticized the GOP for waiting to unveil a health care plan. Speaking from the Senate on Wednesday, Reed said time is running out as 24 million Americans face losing their subsidies at the end of the year. He argued that instead of waiting until the eleventh hour to unveil a health care plan, the GOP can approve an extension now and deal with changes to substitutes later.

“We don’t have time to implement it,” Reed said of the Republican plan. “The solution is simple: extend affordable health care tax credits.”

While Schumer said all Senate Democrats were united behind their vote to extend the ACA subsidies, Thune was not sure all Republicans would support Cassidy and Crapo’s measure.