House GOP unveils health care plan, with vote on track for next week
Washington — House Republican leaders unveiled plan Friday to meet health care costs before tax credits expire at the end of the year that will cause premiums to skyrocket for more than 20 million Americans.
But the plan does not include an expansion of subsidies provided by the Affordable Care Act. Instead, Republican leaders will allow a vote on an amendment to the plan that would include an extension of expiring tax credits, according to a GOP leadership aide.
This decision aims to appease moderate Republicans trying to force votesthrough what is called a discharge request, on separate pieces of legislation to extend the tax credits for one to two years with reforms.
An extension has divided the party, with opponents saying the subsidies are riddled with fraud and high-income households should not qualify for them.
Democrats having pushed a three-year extension without reforms – a failure for the Republicans.
The Republican plan released Friday includes a provision to expand association health plans, in which multiple employers band together to purchase coverage and reduce benefit costs. Another provision would provide funding for cost-sharing reduction payments intended to reduce premiums for certain Affordable Care Act enrollees. The proposal would also require more transparency from pharmacy benefit managers in an effort to reduce drug costs.
“While Democrats demand that taxpayers send bigger checks to insurance companies to hide the cost of their failed law, House Republicans are addressing the real cost drivers of health care to provide affordable care, increase access and choice, and restore the integrity of our nation’s health care system for all Americans,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said in a statement.
Johnson met with leaders of several conference factions this week to try to build consensus on a plan.
The House Rules Committee is expected to review the package Tuesday afternoon, preparing it for a possible floor vote as early as Tuesday evening or Wednesday.
It’s unclear whether he has enough support to survive a floor vote.
In a statement Friday evening, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, called the Republican Party’s proposal a “last-minute measure” and said he would oppose it if the bill reached the House floor.
“House Democrats will continue our fight to protect the health care of the American people. We stand ready to work in good faith with anyone across the aisle who wants to prevent the Affordable Care Act tax credits from expiring at the end of the month,” Jeffries said. “Unfortunately, House Republicans have introduced toxic legislation that is completely unserious, hurts hard-working American taxpayers, and is not designed to garner bipartisan support.”
