House Passes GOP Healthcare Plan, An Alternative to Affordable Care Act Subsidies
The partisan healthcare plan passed Wednesday night after House Democrats failed to force a vote on ObamaCare subsidies before the tax credits lapse at the end of the year
By Zoë Buhrmaster
House Republicans passed a partisan healthcare bill Wednesday that failed to address the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies set to expire within weeks at the end of the year.
The GOP-backed bill would allow small businesses to offer their own health plans and would require more oversight and transparency for pharmacy benefit managers. It also would fund another kind of subsidy, cost-sharing reductions, that focuses on decreasing out-of-pocket expenses for some federal market exchange ratepayers. To be eligible, an enrollee would need an income between 100% and 250% of the federal poverty level. How much expenses are reduced would depend on the enrollee’s income.
U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., voted in support of the Republican plan, with his spokesperson Garrett Brown noting that the bill is “estimated to reduce health care costs by more than 12 percent on average.”
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan analysis for Congress, estimates that the bill would save the government $35.6 billion between 2026 and 2035, and would reduce gross benchmark premiums by 11%. Despite dropping premiums, the office estimates that the bill would result in 300,000 people dropping out of health insurance coverage.
The plan passed in the House 216-211, with one Republican joining all Democrats in opposition. It is largely expected to fail when it reaches the Senate.
The bill comes after the Senate rejected two dueling healthcare bills last week that sought to address the ACA subsidies before the end of the year, as Congress wraps up sessions for the year on Friday. CBO estimates that with the enhanced subsidies expiring, nearly 4 million Americans will lose their health insurance over the next decade with skyrocketing premiums.
A vote on the House GOP plan came after a revolt by four House Republicans earlier Wednesday who sided with Democrats in an attempt to force a floor vote on ACA subsidies with a discharge petition. With the additional signatures placing the petition over the threshold, the House will likely have a floor vote on extending the ACA subsidies for three years in January. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said that the bill is also likely to die in the Senate.