The House passed a package of health care policies on Wednesday, December 17, that has Democrats – and even some Republicans – in a tizzy. The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act includes policies like cost-sharing reductions and an expansion of association health plans. What it clearly does not do, however, is in any way expand the COVID-era Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire on December 31.
House Democrats – joined by four of their GOP counterparts – then tried to force a vote on a straight three-year extension of the tax credits. Without House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) support, however, it simply won’t happen this year. So the subsidies will expire, perhaps never to return, and the blame game begins.
Plenty of Health Care Action, Just No Obamacare
When the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act passed the House on Wednesday, it was along party lines, save for one representative. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, voted along with all the Democrats against the bill. Democrats, of course, wanted an extension of the extra – or “enhanced,” as the lawmakers called them – tax credits for the Affordable Care Act that were granted during the COVID pandemic, a national emergency and health crisis. But the pandemic has been officially over since May 11, 2023. Still, more than two years later, the statists of the left declare such subsidies entitlements, proving Ronald Reagan’s point that “a government program is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”




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