WASHINGTON (AP) – Speaker Mike Johnson, a bipartisan coalition in the House voted Wednesday to advance a measure that would revive an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that reduced health insurance costs for about 22 million people, but which had expired last month.
The 221-205 tally was a key test before the bill passes, which is expected Thursday. And it happened because four centrist GOP lawmakers joined with Democrats to sign a so-called discharge petition to force the vote. After last year’s government shutdown failed to resolve the issue, they said doing nothing was not an option as many of their constituents faced rising health insurance premiums that began this month.
The Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, one of the Republicans who crossed party lines to support the Democratic proposal, portrayed it as a vehicle that senators could use to reach a compromise.
“No matter the issue, if the House brings relatively strong bipartisan support, it makes it easier for senators to get there,” Lawler said.
In the end, nine Republicans joined the Democrats to advance the measure.
Republicans go around their leaders
If it ultimately passes in the House this week, the vote would show there is bipartisan support for a proposed three-year extension of the tax credits that are available to those who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The action to force a vote was an affront to Johnson and GOP leaders, who essentially lost control of their House majority as renegade lawmakers joined Democrats for the solution.
But the Senate has no need to take up the bill.
Instead, a small group of members from both parties is working on an alternative plan that could find support in both chambers and become law. One proposal would be to shorten the subsidy extension to two years and make changes to the program.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RSD, said that any plan that passes muster in the Senate needs to have income limits to ensure that it is focused on those who need help the most and that beneficiaries have to pay at least a nominal amount for their coverage.
That way, he said, “insurance companies can’t game the system and automatically enroll people.” Finally, Thune said there needs to be some expansion of health savings accounts, which allow people to save money and withdraw it tax-free as long as the money is spent on qualified medical expenses.
Democrats are pressing the issue
It is not clear whether the negotiations will yield a bill that the Senate will take up. Democrats are making it clear that the higher health insurance costs that many Americans are facing will be the political centerpiece of their efforts to regain the majority in the House and Senate in the fall elections.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who has led his party’s effort to push forward the health care issue, particularly challenged Republicans in competitive congressional districts to unite if they really wanted to prevent steep premium increases for their constituents. Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, he called on colleagues to “address the health care crisis in this country and ensure that tens of millions of people have the ability to see a doctor when they need one.”
Republican Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, all from Pennsylvania, and Lawler signed the Democrats’ petition, bringing it to the magic number of 218 needed to force a vote in the House. All four represent key swing districts whose races will help determine which party takes the House leadership next year.
Johnson, R-La., had argued that the more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers would have a chance to vote on bills that would temporarily extend the subsidies while also adding changes such as income caps for beneficiaries. But after days of discussions, the leadership sided with the more conservative wing of the party conference, which attacked the subsidies as sustaining a failed program.
Legislators turn to discharge petitions to show support for action and potentially force a vote in the House, but they are rarely successful. This session of Congress proved to be an exception.
A vote requiring the Justice Department to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, for example, came after Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., introduced a petition on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The signature effort was supported by all House Democrats and four Republicans.