Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
In 21 days, increased subsidy for affordable Care Act’s health care market will collapse. This could be an extinction level event for many people republican Since he will contest mid-term elections next year.
But if Republicans are concerned, their leadership doesn’t seem to reflect it. Speaker of the House mike johnson All have said that the House of Representatives There will be no voting on extended subsidies.
22 million to 24 million Americans get their health insurance through subsidies. This is not a negligible amount, especially in red states. That’s Marjorie Taylor Greene Johnson was scolded fiercely during the shutdown For not coming up with any alternative. On CNN, Rep. nancy macewho is running for governor rebuked Johnson for not having a health care bill.
And on the Senate side, Republicans are engaging in health care failure theater. Republicans will vote on a bill from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy that would give families money to deposit into health savings accounts.
This won’t win over anyone democratWhat they know. This is just a way to pretend that they tried and cornered the senator. susan collins In Maine, as he faces a tough election again. But Collins told reporters she was still negotiating the bill.
Sen Lisa Murkowski Alaskans, who faced criticism for voting for the One Big, Beautiful bill earlier this year, also don’t seem sold.
“Many of us still have questions about the implementation of some of this, but I think it’s important that Republicans are going to hopefully present a plan,” he said Tuesday. “you need one.”
And till Wednesday she seemed to be in no mood to talk.
Ironically, As much as progressive people would have been disappointed After the defection of a handful of moderates during the government shutdown, Democrats may have won the messaging war around health care.
“I think there’s no doubt that the Democratic effort to shine a light on the ACA tax credit has raised awareness of this issue, and also raised awareness of the fact that the potential expiration is the fault of Republicans in the House and Senate, who have demonstrated repeatedly that their North Star is cutting health care for the American people, and that includes letting the tax credit expire,” said Representative Sarah McBride of Delaware. Independent,
Another sign that Republicans aren’t serious about winning over Democratic votes on this bill? This includes a ban on funding abortion or gender-affirming care for transgender people.
McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress, said, “His proposal is loaded with culture war provisions that just show how non-serious it is as a negotiating position or a goodwill offer.”
Many Democratic voters lamented that Senate Democrats got a small promise from Republicans for a vote on the subsidies, but it could ultimately be the political winner in next year’s midterms.
“The American public knows, and they will know even more tomorrow, who is on their side on health care and who is not,” said Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. IndependentKaine ultimately joined seven other Democratic or independent senators to pass a continuing resolution to reopen the government, mostly to provide relief to federal employees in their home state,
But Kaine said it could ultimately benefit Democrats because, at the time, they had to deal with a government shutdown and the risk of people going hungry if they did not receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
“But I think one of the challenges in the health care fight during the shutdown is that you were raving about health care, but you also had people losing SNAP benefits, air traffic was screwed, people were losing pay checks, and other things,” Kaine said. “So it was hard to focus on the health care issue with the background of all the other issues. Now, the government is open, there’s no snap thing. We’re just focused on health care.”
One perfect sign that this could hurt Republicans: A handful of moderate Democrats, along with swing district Republicans like Brian Fitzpatrick and Rob Bresnahan, who represent swing districts in Pennsylvania, have co-sponsored legislation to extend the subsidies for two years with income limits.
“I certainly think we won the shutdown,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told Independent“And I mean, there’s no victory in this, OK, but I think we’ve won the conversation with the American people and understanding what we were fighting for and why, and building new momentum to increase health care subsidies for people,”
Republicans also face other major challenges, such as Donald Trump’s growing unpopularity, high tariff costs and the backlash of Hispanic and youth voters. But it seems he is not interested in finding a concrete solution that can win votes.
As the House was voting, Johnson was haunted by the ghost of Christmas past when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted after his own internal rebellion, burst into the Speaker’s office.