House Democrats filed a petition to go around House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and force a vote on a bill to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. The new effort comes after they failed to secure an extension of the ACA tax credits during the government shutdown, which was their top priority.
“At one point with the Affordable Care Act we were up to 95% of Americans that had health insurance. The Republicans are trying to do whatever they can to cut that number back and not have Americans have health insurance,” Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., told Straight Arrow News. “That’s what they’re doing by trying to destroy the ACA and the subsidies.
Next steps for negotiations
A discharge petition can force a vote on any bill if a majority of House members sign on.
The petition to extend ACA subsidies has already been filed and had 174 signatures and counting as of Thursday afternoon. By the time all Democrats sign, it will have 214 signatures. They need four Republicans to join them to hit the 218 needed to force a vote on the bill.
“There are some Republicans who, in the last few weeks, have said that they’re supportive of extending the tax credits for the ACA. Whether we can believe them or not remains to be seen. But certainly we’ll push them to sign the discharge petition,” Pallone said.
There are Republicans who say they support or are open to extending the tax credits, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ga., and Sen. Thom Tillis, N.C., but not for three years. They also want to change some of the eligibility requirements.
Straight Arrow News asked multiple House Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., if they would be willing to negotiate on a three-year extension to get the final Republican signatures they need.
“Republicans have zero credibility on this issue,” Jeffries said. “These Republicans have tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act more than 70 different times in the last 15 years. There’s no evidence that they’re serious about extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits.”
Why do the expanded tax credits matter?
The expanded tax credits were first implemented during the pandemic, and they’re expiring at the end of 2025. Without them, premiums for millions of Americans who get their health insurance through the federal marketplace are set to increase, in some cases doubling or quintupling. The credits are available to those who make between 100% to 400% of the federal poverty level, a threshold that varies based on family size.
Democrats point to the One Big Beautiful Bill that Republicans approved in July, which made income tax cuts and other tax breaks permanent. Because of that, Democrats said the ACA credits should be, at a minimum, extended.
“Republican tax breaks, those are permanent. So we should be considering how best to support the American people, and that’s to ensure that health care is within their reach,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., told SAN. “Given the impacts of the big betrayal bill and the cuts to Medicaid, when you compound that with not extending the ACA subsidies.”
Republicans who oppose the tax credits say if the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace needs to be continually subsidized to be affordable, then the system is broken and needs to be reworked.
They point to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that a permanent extension of the subsidies would add $350 billion to the national debt over the next decade.
“The money is going to line the pockets of very profitable insurance companies. Again, the market is failing,” Rep. Andy Harris, R-M.D., said on Newsmax. “Obamacare is only 7% of Americans. Literally almost 100% of Americans need relief from their health care policy premiums.”
Republicans still want to repeal Obamacare, but they’ve yet to come up with a plan for what they would replace it with.
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