Senate Republicans on Monday night blocked a Democratic attempt to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies—a move that would have made health care more affordable for tens of millions of Americans.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) offered an amendment to the government funding bill that passed Monday evening that would have extended ACA subsidies for one year. The one year extension sought to ensure that Americans would avoid seeing more than double-digit price increases in their insurance premiums, while giving Congress time to come up with a permanent solution to health care affordability.
All 47 Senate Democrats voted for the amendment. But it failed because every single Senate Republican voted against extending the subsidies.
“Get lost” by Clay Bennett
“My Republican colleagues sent a clear, unmistakable message that they are okay with jacking up health care costs on 22 million Americans. I’m not, and I am going to keep fighting to stop these massive health care price increases that Wisconsin families are staring down,” Baldwin said in a news release after her amendment failed.
Of course, extending subsidies for the ACA—better known as Obamacare—should have been a no-brainer for Republicans.
Polling shows voters overwhelmingly support extending the payments that help Americans afford the cost of their insurance. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found 74% of Americans believe Congress should extend the subsidies, including 76% of independents and even 50% of Republicans—many of whom have Obamacare plans.
Yet Republicans, who have fought to repeal Obamacare for years, could not bring themselves to do the right thing.
If the Republican-controlled Congress refuses to act before the end of the year, millions of Americans will be forced to go without health insurance altogether because they will not be able to afford the cost of their premiums.
And when millions drop out of the insurance pool, costs will rise for those who do choose to purchase Obamacare plans—as the remaining insurance pool will likely be people who use more insurance and are more expensive to cover.
At the end of the day, even if Democrats held out longer during the shutdown, it's unlikely they would have gotten the GOP congressional majority to extend Obamacare subsidies.
Republicans do not support the ACA, and insist they have their own ideas for affordable health insurance—though they refuse to articulate what exactly that plan is because it’s almost certainly just an unpopular repeal of Obamacare altogether.
Ultimately, after this shutdown battle it's clear to voters that it is Republicans who refused to extend their ACA subsidies and forced their insurance premiums higher. Good luck to Republicans in 2026 who will have to defend their choice to raise the cost of living, when all voters want is for politicians to help make life more affordable.
