92%: <\/b>The percentage of total enrollees who benefited from enhanced subsidies last year, before they expired on Jan. 1, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data.
114%: <\/b>The average increase to annual health insurance fees for previously subsidized enrollees this year, according to an analysis from the health care research nonprofit KFF. Some Americans interviewed by the AP are seeing even larger hikes in the cost of their plans \u2013 in one case, from $85 a month to nearly $750<\/a>.
43: <\/b>The number of days the government shut down<\/a> last fall when Democrats tried to force a vote to save the subsidies.
4:<\/b> The number of GOP centrist lawmakers who defected from House leadership and joined Democrats to force a vote<\/a> on the subsidies in the new year.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 In a remarkable rebuke of Republican leadership, the House passed legislation Thursday that would extend expired health care subsidies<\/a> for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act as 17 renegade GOP lawmakers joined every Democrat in support.<\/p>\n The tally, 230-196, signified growing political concern over Americans\u2019 health care costs. Forcing the issue to a vote came about after a handful of Republicans signed on to a so-called \u201cdischarge petition\u201d<\/a> to unlock debate, bypassing objections from House Speaker Mike Johnson<\/a>. The bill now goes to the Senate, where pressure is building for a bipartisan compromise. <\/p>\n Together, the rare political coalitions are rushing to resolve the standoff<\/a> over the enhanced tax credits that were put in place during the COVID-19 crisis but expired late last year after no agreement was reached during the government shutdown<\/a>. <\/p>\n \n FILE – Travelers wait to check in for their flights at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n <\/p>\n FILE – Travelers wait to check in for their flights at Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \n FILE – Goldie Getter, the wife of a civil service employee who was furloughed due to the government shutdown, unpacks groceries her husband received from a food bank in Gulfport, Miss., Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)\n <\/p>\n FILE – Goldie Getter, the wife of a civil service employee who was furloughed due to the government shutdown, unpacks groceries her husband received from a food bank in Gulfport, Miss., Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \u201cThe affordability crisis is not a \u2018hoax,\u2019 it is very real \u2014 despite what Donald Trump has had to say,\u201d said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, invoking the president\u2019s remarks<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cDemocrats made clear before the government was shut down that we were in this affordability fight until we win this affordability fight,\u201d he said. \u201cToday we have an opportunity to take a meaningful step forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Ahead of voting, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office<\/a> estimated that the bill, which would provide a three-year extension of the subsidy, would increase the nation\u2019s deficit by about $80.6 billion over the decade. At the same time, it would increase the number of people with health insurance by 100,000 this year, 3 million in 2027, 4 million in 2028 and 1.1 million in 2029, the CBO said.<\/p>\n Growing support for extending ACA subsidies<\/p>\n Johnson, R-La., worked for months to prevent this situation. His office argued Thursday that the federal health care funding from the COVID-19 era is rife with fraud and urged a no vote.<\/p>\n On the floor, Republicans also argued that the lawmakers should be focused on lowering health insurance costs for the broader population, not just those enrolled in ACA plans. <\/p>\n \u201cOnly 7% of the population relies on Obamacare marketplace plans. This chamber should be about helping 100% of Americans,\u201d said Rep. Jason Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n FILE – Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters following the weekly policy luncheons at the Capitol, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana)<\/p>\n FILE – Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters following the weekly policy luncheons at the Capitol, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n While the momentum from the vote shows the growing support for the tax breaks that have helped some 22 million Americans<\/a> have access to health insurance, the Senate would be under no requirement to take up the House bill and has already rejected it once before.<\/p>\n Instead, a small group of senators from both parties has been working on an alternative plan that could find support in both chambers and become law. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that for any plan to find support in his chamber, it will need to have income limits to ensure that the financial aid is focused on those who most need the help. He and other Republicans also want to ensure that beneficiaries would have to at least pay a nominal amount for their coverage.<\/p>\n Finally, Thune said there would need to be some expansion of health savings accounts, which allow people to save money and withdraw it tax-free as long as the money is spent on qualified medical expenses.<\/p>\n GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, a leader in the group of about a dozen senators, said they hope to deliver a framework next week. He and others met with House colleagues on options.<\/p>\n Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who is part of the negotiations, said there is agreement on addressing fraud in health care. <\/p>\n \u201cWe recognize that we have millions of people in this country who are going to lose \u2014 are losing, have lost \u2014 their health insurance because they can\u2019t afford the premiums,\u201d Shaheen said. \u201cAnd so we\u2019re trying to see if we can\u2019t get to some agreement that\u2019s going to help, and the sooner we can do that, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has pushed Republicans to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can bypass the federal government and handle insurance on their own. Democrats largely reject this idea as insufficient for covering the high costs of health care.<\/p>\n Republicans go around their leaders<\/p>\n The action by Republicans to force a vote has been an affront to Johnson and his leadership team, who essentially lost control of what comes to the House floor as the Republican lawmakers joined Democrats for the workaround. <\/p>\n After last year\u2019s government shutdown<\/a> failed to resolve the issue, Johnson had discussed allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers a chance to vote on another health care bill that would temporarily extend the subsidies while also adding changes. <\/p>\n But after days of discussions, Johnson and the GOP leadership sided with the more conservative wing, which has assailed the subsidies as propping up ACA, which they consider a failed government program. He offered a modest proposal of health care reforms<\/a> that was approved, but has stalled. <\/p>\n It was then that rank-and-file lawmakers took matters into their own hands, as many of their constituents faced soaring health insurance premiums<\/a> beginning this month. <\/p>\n Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, all from Pennsylvania, and Mike Lawler of New York, signed the Democrats\u2019 petition, pushing it to the magic number of 218 needed to force a House vote. All four represent key swing districts whose races will help determine which party takes charge of the House next year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler debates Mondaire Jones during the Congressional District 17 election hosted by News 12, Oct. 16, 2024, in Yonkers, NY. (AP Photo\/Brittainy Newman, File)<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler debates Mondaire Jones during the Congressional District 17 election hosted by News 12, Oct. 16, 2024, in Yonkers, NY. (AP Photo\/Brittainy Newman, File)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Jeffries said in a celebratory press conference afterward that Thune should bring the Democratic bill to the Senate floor for an immediate vote.<\/p>\n Trump encourages GOP to take on health care issue<\/p>\n What started as a long shot effort by Democrats to offer a discharge petition has become a political vindication of the Democrats\u2019 government shutdown strategy as they fought to preserve the health care funds.<\/p>\n![\"FILE](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767967090_755_.jpeg\")
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