Bid to Save ObamaCare Subsidies Fails in Senate

The Senate on Thursday rejected legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year, per the AP. Senators rejected a Democratic bill to extend the subsidies for three years and a Republican alternative that would have created new health savings accounts—an unceremonious end to a monthslong effort by Democrats to prevent the COVID-19-era subsidies from expiring on Jan. 1.

• Ahead of the votes, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned Republicans that if they did not vote to extend the tax credits, "there won't be another chance to act," before premiums rise for many people who buy insurance off the ACA marketplaces. "Let's avert a disaster," Schumer said. "The American people are watching."
• Republicans have argued that Affordable Care Act plans are too expensive and need to be overhauled. The health savings accounts in the GOP bill would give money directly to consumers instead of to insurance companies, an idea that has been echoed by President Trump. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said ahead of the vote that a simple extension of the subsidies is "an attempt to disguise the real impact of Obamacare's spiraling health care costs."
• But Democrats immediately rejected the GOP plan, saying that the accounts wouldn't be enough to cover costs for most consumers.
• The dueling Senate votes are the latest political messaging exercise in a Congress that has operated almost entirely on partisan terms, as Republicans pushed through a massive tax and spending cuts bill this summer using budget maneuvers that eliminated the need for Democratic votes. In September, Republicans tweaked Senate rules to push past a Democratic blockade of all of Trump's nominees.