Name: Republicans to offer alternative health care bill amid expiring ACA
Uploaded: 2025-12-10T00:27:11.428Z
Duration: 3 min 30 s
Description: The Senate is expected to vote on Thursday on a Democratic proposal to extend Affordable Care Act Subsidies. The Democratic plan is not expected to pass, but Republicans acknowledged this is a critical issue for voters and are expected to put out their own health care plan.

The Senate is expected to vote on Thursday on a Democratic proposal to extend Affordable Care Act Subsidies. The Democratic plan is not expected to pass, but Republicans acknowledged this is a critical issue for voters and are expected to put out their own health care plan.

Washington

The U.S. Senate is preparing to vote on a Democratic proposal to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year. If the subsidies lapse, health insurance premiums for millions of Americans are expected to rise significantly. In response, Senate Republicans, led by Senators Bill Cassidy and Mike Crapo, are introducing an alternative plan that would direct funds into health savings accounts rather than extending the ACA subsidies.

Both the Democratic extension and the Republican alternative face insufficient support and are unlikely to pass. Lawmakers from both parties acknowledge the political and financial implications for voters, with discussions ongoing about broader health care reforms. The expiration of subsidies is expected to result in higher premiums for those on ACA exchanges, posing a challenge for both parties ahead of upcoming elections.

Republicans to offer alternative health care bill amid expiring ACA

The Senate is expected to vote Thursday on a Democratic proposal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. Those subsidies help keep health insurance costs down. They're set to expire at the end of the year. If they do, coverage for millions of Americans will get more expensive. The Democratic plan is not expected to pass, but Republicans acknowledge this is a critical issue for voters. I just had a constituent down in North Carolina currently paying $800 a month for health insurance for a couple and three children. They just communicated to me it's going to be twice, going to be $1600 a month. If we've got a lot of those out there, that's a problem for us. I'd like to make drugs more affordable. So how do you do that? You change the system that makes them too high. We need to think about the human cost of this, I think, and Republicans need to offer an alternative solution. CBS News Congressional Correspondent Caitlin Huey Burns joins us now. So, Caitlin, what alternatives have Republicans offered on health care? Hey, Lindsay, it's great to see you. Well, on Thursday, they are going to put forward their own version of their plan. That does not extend those Obamacare subsidies. Instead, it's a proposal by Senator Bill Cassidy, who himself is a physician. He's a Republican from Louisiana and Senator Crapo from Idaho. And they are proposing to put this kind of money into health savings accounts to give this money directly to some of those on the Obamacare exchanges to be able to use that money how they see fit. Now, this is really a non-starter among Democrats. Chuck Schumer came out today and said that this was essentially junk insurance, in his view. But it is something that Republicans have coalesced behind and around, and they are going to put that forward on Thursday. And this is part of a broader effort to show that they are working on some kind of health care alternative because the political reality is such that they couldn't really vote against the Democratic proposal, which is a three-year extension of those Obamacare subsidies, without producing some kind of plan of their own. Bottom line, Lindsey, both of these measures are likely to fail. They don't have enough support, and they likely won't get enough support in order to pass. So when you're looking at those Obamacare subsidies that are expected to run out at the end of this year, that is increasingly likely that they will. Is there any talk on the Hill of a bigger, sweeping health care reform plan for the new year? Well, Lindsey, it's a good question because there are a lot of different kinds of conversations going around among lawmakers. There are several different conversations among Republicans happening, not only within the Senate. There's also various plans, in addition to the one I mentioned, but also on the House side as well. They are trying to figure out what kind of plan to coalesce around. But the Democrats want a clean extension of those Obamacare subsidies for three years. Now, that's a tall order, and that's not something that was likely to pass at all. And so that is what they are going to propose on Thursday, and that is likely to fail. But the bigger picture here is that these premiums are going to spike for a lot of those people who are on the Obamacare exchanges, and that becomes a political problem for both parties, quite frankly, heading into the midterms. And Republicans, as you noted there in some of that sound, acknowledge that. Kaitlin Huberns, thanks so much.

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