Key tax credits that reduce the cost of Affordable Care Act health insurance coverage for millions of Americans looked likely to expire by the end of the year after House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that there would be no vote on extending those subsidies this week.
The House is not in session next week, meaning that Johnson was not leaving the door open for a later vote before the boosted ACA premium assistance expires.
There remains a chance that enough Republicans in Johnson’s majority caucus agree to back a Democrat-led effort to force an effective vote on extending the tax credits for Obamacare health plans.
The tactic, a discharge petition, is identical to one recently used to force a vote on a bill compelling the release by the Department of Justice of investigative files related to sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
“We looked for a way to try to allow that pressure release valve and it just was not to be,” Johnson, R-La., said at a press conference, referring to the looming expiration date for the aid.
“We worked on it all the way through the weekend, in fact, and in the end an agreement wasn’t made,” he said.
Republican leadership in the House is continuing to push for a novel cost-sharing plan that would make it easier for small employers to provide their own healthcare plans. A vote on that proposal remains set for Wednesday.
But Democrats and some moderate Republicans wanted votes on an extension of the enhanced Obamacare premium credits.
The health policy research group KFF has said that about 22 million Americans, or more than 90% of total enrollment in ACA insurance coverage, receive enhanced subsidies, which were made available during the Covid-19 pandemic to increase the pool of people who are eligible for reduced health coverage premiums.
KFF has estimated that when the boosted subsidies expire, people’s premiums would more than double in 2026 on average.
The deadline for signing up for ACA plan coverage on Obamacare marketplaces for 2026 was this past Monday.
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