House Passes Three-Year Extension of Enhanced Obamacare Subsidies

Seventeen House Republicans joined Democrats on Thursday to extend the expiring enhanced Obamacare subsidies, pushing healthcare reform to the Senate.

The House voted 230-196 to pass H.R. 1834, the Breaking the Gridlock Act, a bill that would extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies, more formally known as the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits (EPTCs) for three more years.

Democrats first enhanced the Obamacare premium tax credit to offset the cost of health insurance premiums through the coronavirus-era Biden stimulus plan known as the American Rescue Plan. Democrats, under Biden, then extended the credits through the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, leaving them to expire at the end of 2025. The expiration of the enhanced subsidies led to a weekslong government shutdown by Democrats.

Democrats failed to achieve their goal with the shutdown; however, it appears that there is momentum on health care with the passage of the bill on Thursday.

The bill goes to the Senate, where it is expected to die, although it may help Republicans lay groundwork to work on a potential bipartisan solution to tame health insurance premiums, while dealing with the rampant waste, fraud, and abuse that comes with enhanced subsidies.

“The Senate could put together a product that could ultimately get sent back over to the House that we can then conference on and hopefully move across the finish line,” Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), who backed the House Democrat bill, said.

House Republicans announced on Thursday that they will invite health insurance executives to testify on how to lower healthcare costs on January 22 as a means to counter Democrats’ narrative on health care.

Sens. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have charted a path to extend and reform the Obamacare subsidies by requiring minimum premium payments and preventing fraud and abuse that comes with zero-premium plans.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) this week laid out the three parts that would comprise a potential healthcare deal. It would include:

• Minimum premium payments and other restrictions
• A “Bridge to HSAs,” or health savings accounts
• A deal to address the “Hyde issue” that bars federal funding for abortions

“We want to ensure that if we do anything it’s done in a way that reforms these programs and … ensures that those dollars aren’t being used to go against the practice that’s been in place for the last 50 years around here when it comes to taxpayer dollars being used to finance abortions and that it also has this movement in the future toward HSAs,” Thune said on Tuesday.