WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday that Democrats will force a vote next week on a bill to extend expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits and prevent health insurance premiums from skyrocketing for millions of Americans.
Schumer said it will be a “clean” three-year extension of the enhanced ACA funds that first passed in 2021, designed to cap premiums for an average marketplace plan to 8.5% of income, and he said “every single Democrat will support it.”
Schumer’s legislation is all but guaranteed to fail, as many GOP senators want the ACA funds to expire, arguing that the Covid-era subsidies were meant to be temporary and are no longer needed.
“Republicans have one week to decide where they stand: Vote for this bill and bring health care costs down, or block this bill and send premiums skyrocketing,” Schumer said on the floor. “That’s what’s at stake when we vote next week. It’s going to be one of the most important votes we take.”
The vote is the product of a promise that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., made to Democrats in discussions to end the record-long government shutdown last month. Thune reiterated Tuesday that the Senate will vote next week on any bill Democrats propose — but it will require 60 votes to pass, meaning at least 13 Republicans would need to support it.
Some Republicans say they’re open to extending the ACA funding with modifications and stricter limits, but the two sides have failed to reach an agreement. And Republican demands for tougher abortion restrictions tied to any ACA funds have been dismissed as a nonstarter by Democrats.
Still, the issue has deep political ramifications, with costs expected to soar for millions of Americans on the ACA marketplaces. Democrats see it as a potent weapon to use in their campaigns for the 2026 elections if no solution is reached.
Schumer previewed his party’s message on the floor, calling his bill the “only path” to preventing insurance costs from rising significantly next month.
“People back home will be watching what Republicans do, and the American people are running out of time before January 1,” he said. “Make no mistake, our bill is the last chance Republicans will get before Jan. 1 to prevent premiums from skyrocketing.”
Thune did not mention health care during his floor speech Thursday, but told reporters two days earlier, after a GOP meeting, that it is still a work in progress. Republicans have proposed a variety of ideas to extend, redirect or end the ACA funds, but lack consensus internally about the way forward.
“Conversations continue,” Thune told reporters Tuesday. “I don’t think, at this point, we have a clear path forward.”
Brennan Leach and Gabrielle Khoriaty contributed.