{"id":480295,"date":"2025-10-07T11:35:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T11:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/480295\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T11:35:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T11:35:20","slug":"government-shutdown-health-care-remains-an-intractable-issue-in-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/480295\/","title":{"rendered":"Government shutdown: Health care remains an intractable issue in Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Democrats believe health care is an issue that resonates with a majority of Americans as they demand an extension of subsidies<\/a> in exchange for their votes to reopen the shuttered U.S. government. But it is also one of the most intractable issues in Congress \u2014 and a real compromise amid the government shutdown<\/a> will not likely be easy, or quick. <\/p>\n

There are some Republicans in Congress who want to extend the higher subsidies, which were first put in place in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as millions of people who receive their insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces are set to receive notices that their premiums will increase at the beginning of the year<\/a>. But many GOP lawmakers are strongly opposed to any extension \u2014 and see the debate as a new opportunity to cut back on the program altogether. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf Republicans govern by poll and fail to grab this moment, they will own it,\u201d wrote Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican, in a letter published in the The Wall Street Journal over the weekend. He encouraged senators not to go \u201cwobbly\u201d on the issue. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe jig is up, the pandemic is over and my colleagues shouldn\u2019t blink in any other direction,\u201d Roy wrote. <\/p>\n

Republicans have been railing against the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama\u2019s signature health care law, since it was enacted 15 years ago. But while they have been able to chip away at it, they have not been able to substantially alter it<\/a> as a record 24 million people<\/a> are now signed up for insurance coverage through the ACA, in large part because billions of dollars in subsidies have made the plans more affordable for many people. <\/p>\n

Now, some of them see the Democrats\u2019 fight as their chance to revisit the issue \u2014 putting Republican congressional leaders and President Donald Trump in a complicated position as the government shutdown enters its seventh day and hundreds of thousands of federal workers are going unpaid. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am happy to work with Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to reopen,\u201d Trump wrote on social media Monday night, walking back earlier comments<\/a> saying there were ongoing negotiations with Democrats. <\/p>\n

Waiting for the other side to blink <\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has repeatedly indicated that Republicans are open to extending the subsidies, with reforms, if Democrats would reopen the government. But he has refused to negotiate until that happens \u2014 and has suggested Trump will be key to the eventual outcome. <\/p>\n

Thune<\/a> told reporters Monday \u201cthere may be a path forward\u201d on ACA subsidies, but stressed, \u201cI think a lot of it would come down to where the White House lands on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many GOP senators argue the only path forward is to overhaul the law. \u201cThe whole problem with all of this is Obamacare,\u201d said Florida Sen. Rick Scott. <\/p>\n

Most House Republicans agree, and House Speaker Mike Johnson<\/a> has been noncommittal on discussions. <\/p>\n

\u201cObamacare is not working,\u201d Johnson said Sunday on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re trying to fix it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Democrats believe that public sentiment is on their side<\/a> and argue that Trump and Republicans will have to come to the negotiating table as people who are enrolled in the program, many of whom live in Republican districts and states, are notified that their rates will increase. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll I can tell you is the American people feel very deeply about solving this health care crisis,\u201d Schumer said after the Senate rejected a House-passed bill to reopen the government for the fifth time Monday evening. \u201cEvery poll we have seen shows they want us to do it, and they feel that the Republicans are far more responsible for the shutdown than we are.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bipartisan talks face difficulties <\/p>\n

With leaders at odds, some rank-and-file senators in both parties have been in private talks to try to find a way out of the shutdown. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota has suggested extending the subsidies for a year and then phasing them out. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, has suggested pushing ahead with a group of bipartisan spending bills that are pending and a commitment to discuss the health care issue.<\/p>\n

But many Democrats say a commitment isn\u2019t good enough, and Republicans say they need deeper reforms \u2014 leaving the talks, and the U.S. government, at a standstill. <\/p>\n

Maine Sen. Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats, voted with Republicans to keep the government open. But he said Monday that he might switch his vote to \u201cno\u201d if Republicans do not \u201coffer some real solid evidence that they are going to help us with this crisis\u201d on health care. <\/p>\n

Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said his party is \u201cnot budging,\u201d however. \u201cFirst and foremost, before we can talk about anything, they need to reopen the government.\u201d <\/p>\n

Some Republicans urge action on health care <\/p>\n

Still, some Republicans say they are open to extending the subsidies \u2014 even if they don\u2019t like them \u2014 as it becomes clear that their constituents will face rising costs. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m willing to consider various reforms, but I think we have to do something,\u201d said Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. He said Congress should address the issue \u201csooner rather than later\u201d before open enrollment begins Nov. 1. <\/p>\n

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said she is \u201cnot a fan\u201d of Obamacare but indicated she might vote to extend it. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year my own adult children\u2019s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to DOUBLE, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district,\u201d she posted on social media Monday evening. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Democrats believe health care is an issue that resonates with a majority of Americans as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480296,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[159408,6904,1433,32,4179,18179,151474,105,20944,4348,141356,159410,22720,78522,159412,8186,159411,285,159409,6914,64188,144923,7143,36768,16,15,5213,10673],"class_list":{"0":"post-480295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-angus-king","9":"tag-barack-obama","10":"tag-coronavirus","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-government-programs","14":"tag-government-shutdown","15":"tag-health","16":"tag-health-care-industry","17":"tag-healthcare","18":"tag-john-thune","19":"tag-josh-hawley","20":"tag-maine","21":"tag-marjorie-taylor-greene","22":"tag-markwayne-mullin","23":"tag-mike-johnson","24":"tag-mike-rounds","25":"tag-politics","26":"tag-rick-scott","27":"tag-subsidies","28":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","29":"tag-u-s-government-shutdown","30":"tag-u-s-news","31":"tag-u-s-republican-party","32":"tag-uk","33":"tag-united-kingdom","34":"tag-united-states-government","35":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}