Some House Republicans pushed for a short-term extension of Obamacare’s enhanced premium tax credits in addition to the market reforms included in the bill.
WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives on Dec. 17 passed a health care reform bill amid an intra-party debate on whether to extend the expiring enhanced premium tax credits offered in the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act aims to lower health insurance premiums in both the Affordable Care Act exchanges and the general market. The Affordable Care Act is former President Barack Obama’s health care law, known as Obamacare.
The bill passed in a 216–211 vote. One Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), joined all Democrats in voting against the bill.
Following the vote, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) touted the bill’s passage as a more significant achievement than extending the temporary subsidies would have been.
“What we just passed off the floor will reduce everybody’s premiums by 11 percent,” Johnson said, comparing it with the 5.7 percent reduction a subsidy extension would yield. “We did a better and more important thing for 100 percent of Americans, not just 7 percent of Americans.”
Disagreement Over Enhanced Subsidies
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and three other Republicans had earlier joined a discharge petition circulated by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to force a vote on a three-year extension of the subsidies.
That move came after an amendment sponsored by Fitzpatrick and another advanced by Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) were rejected by the House Rules Committee.
The amendments mirrored bipartisan bills each had sponsored that would have extended the enhanced subsidies for two years and one year, respectively, with accompanying changes to reduce the cost and combat fraud.
Fitzpatrick, joined by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Robert Bresnahan (R-Pa.), and Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.), provided the final signatures needed to reach 218, forcing a vote on the Democrats’ proposal.
Under House rules, seven legislative days must pass before a signer of the petition can call for a vote. The speaker then has two legislative days to schedule it.
Democrats have called on Johnson to waive the waiting period and schedule the vote immediately.
Johnson, when asked whether Republicans’ siding with the opposition was a signal that he had lost control of the House, said that that was not the case.
“These are not normal times,” Johnson said, noting that the party’s slim majority in the House allows members to exert leverage that they otherwise could not.
By Lawrence Wilson and Nathan Worcester
