Senators from both major parties said Wednesday that they want to do something about the Obamacare premium subsidies that expire at the end of the month, but they don’t appear to have moved any closer to working out a plan.
At a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing focused on healthcare affordability, lawmakers said they understand they need to take action to prevent millions of people from seeing huge increases in their monthly insurance costs starting in January.
“If we don’t do something on this issue, if Congress does not take action on this issue in the next few weeks, this will be a crisis for 24 million Americans and counting,” said Republican Sen. Josh Hawley. “In my state, plans are already going up between 24 and 50%.”
Hawley suggested that lawmakers lock themselves in a room until they come up with a plan.
Hawley’s proposed solution involves allowing people to deduct their medical expenses on their taxes. “We did no taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime, earlier this year,” he said. “How about no taxes on healthcare?”
Whatever its appeal and potential effects, Hawley’s plan has no chance of becoming law before the subsidies run out in four weeks.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who leads the committee, called on lawmakers to find a short-term solution while leaving more structural changes for next year. “Let’s try to find a way we can all live with,” Cassidy said. “If there is going to be a big idea, that will not happen before Jan. 1, 2026.”
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders suggested simply extending the existing subsidies, as Democrats have proposed. Cassidy said high costs within the plans offered under the Affordable Care Act call for more significant changes. Cassidy has proposed converting Obamacare subsidies into health savings accounts connected to bronze-tier plans.
Sanders rejected the idea, saying that approach “is not going to guarantee health insurance to all people,” and Democrats have shown no signs of interest in the Cassidy plan.
The bottom line: The Senate is expected to vote next week on Democratic legislation that would extend the subsidies, but the plan will likely fail given Republican opposition. That leaves lawmakers still scrambling to find a way out of the impending crisis.