WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Now that the , House and Senate Republicans say they will negotiate with Democrats on whether to extend COVID-era tax credits that help tens of millions of Americans afford their health care premiums. But finding bipartisan agreement could be difficult, if not impossible, before the subsidies expire at the end of the year.
The shutdown ended this week after a small group of Democrats with Republican senators who promised a vote by mid-December on extending the . But there is no guaranteed outcome, and many Republicans have made clear they want the credits to expire.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called the subsidies a 鈥渂oondoggle鈥� immediately after the House voted Wednesday to end the shutdown, and President Donald Trump said the Obama-era health overhaul was a 鈥渄isaster鈥� as he signed the reopening bill into law.
It is far from the outcome that Democrats had hoped for as they kept the government closed for 43 days, demanding that Republicans negotiate with them on an extension before premiums sharply increase. But they say they will try again as the expiration date approaches.
鈥淚t remains to be seen if they are serious,鈥� said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. But he said Democrats 鈥渁re just getting started.鈥�
Republicans have been meeting privately to discuss the issue. Some want to extend the subsidies, with changes, to avoid the widespread increases in premiums. Others, like Johnson and Trump, want to start a new conversation about overhauling 鈥淥bamacare鈥� entirely 鈥� a redo after a similar effort in 2017 failed.
Democrats push for extension
Health care has long been , marked by deep ideological and political divides. Partisan disagreement over the 2010 law has persisted for more than a decade, and relationships are already strained from weeks of partisan tensions over the shutdown.
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said that while Republicans have promised negotiations and a Senate vote, Democrats are wary. She noted that Johnson has not committed to anything in the House.
鈥淒o I trust any of them? Hell no,鈥� DeLauro said.
If the two sides cannot agree, as many as 24 million people who get their health care from the exchanges created by the law could . New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, one of the Democrats who struck a deal with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to reopen the government, said she thinks an agreement on the tax credits is possible.
During the talks that led to the shutdown鈥檚 end, Shaheen said she and other sat across from Thune and 鈥渓ooked him eye to eye鈥� as he committed to a serious effort.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have a chance to vote on a bill that we will write by mid-December, in a way that gives us a chance to build 鈥� hopefully build 鈥� bipartisan support to get that through,鈥� Shaheen said.
While Democrats would like to see a permanent extension of the tax credits, most realize that is unlikely. Just before the shutdown ended, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York proposed a one-year extension and a bipartisan committee to address Republican demands for changes to the ACA. But Thune said that was a 鈥渘onstarter鈥� as the government remained shut down.
In the House, Democrats have suggested a three-year extension.
What Republicans want
While Republicans have long sought to scrap Obamacare, they have had challenges over the years in figuring out what would replace it. That problem plagued the 2017 effort, when then-Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., cast the deciding vote to kill a bill on the Senate floor that was short on detail.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, chairman of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., have proposed overhauling the law to create accounts that would direct the money to individuals instead of insurance companies. Those are ideas that Trump echoed as he signed the funding bill Wednesday evening.
鈥淚 want the money to go directly to you, the people,鈥� Trump said.
It is unclear exactly how that would work, and scrapping the law in its current form would take months, if not years, to negotiate, even if Republicans could find the votes to do it.
Thune has suggested that Republicans would like to see stricter income limits and an end to zero-cost premiums if the subsidies are extended. But those changes may not be enough for some in his conference who want to see the subsidies eliminated.
Slow start to negotiations
Some moderate Republicans in the House have said they want to work with Democrats to extend the subsidies before the deadline, which is only weeks away. In a letter to Thune and Schumer on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, the Republican co-chair of the Bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, encouraged negotiations.
鈥淥ur sense of urgency cannot be greater,鈥� Fitzpatrick wrote. 鈥淥ur willingness to cooperate has no limits.鈥�
So far, though, Senate Republicans have been meeting on their own to figure out their own differences.
鈥淩ight now, it鈥檚 just getting consensus among ourselves,鈥� Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Monday after GOP members of the Senate Finance Committee met to discuss possible ways forward.
Tillis is supportive of extending the tax credits, but said lawmakers also need to find a way to reduce costs. If the two sides cannot eventually agree, Tillis said, Republicans may have to try and figure out a way to do it on their own, potentially using budget maneuvers that enabled them to pass this summer without any Democratic votes.
鈥淲e should have that in our back pocket too,鈥� Tillis said.
Another shutdown?
Some House Democrats have raised the possibility that there could be another shutdown if they are unable to win concessions on health care. The bill signed by Trump will fully fund some parts of the government, but others will run out of money again at the end of January if Congress does not act.
鈥淚 think it depends on the vulnerable House Republicans who are not going to be able to go back to their constituents without telling them that they鈥檝e done something on health care,鈥� said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.
鈥淲e鈥檒l just have to see鈥� if there could be another shutdown, said Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said he is 鈥渘ot going to vote to endorse their cruelty鈥� if Republicans do not extend the subsidies.
DeLauro said that Republicans have wanted to repeal the ACA since it was first enacted. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where they鈥檙e trying to go,鈥� she said.
鈥淲hen it comes to January 30 we鈥檒l see what progress has been made,鈥� she said.
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