Premium costs for Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) health insurance plans are set to spike for millions of Americans when federal subsidies expire on Dec. 31. According to a report from Politico, some Republicans in Congress are hitting back against the plan to tackle the issue back by President Donald Trump.
The two options on the table for Congress are to either pass legislation that extends the federal subsidies for Obamacare into the new year, or come up with an alternative healthcare system altogether that more Republicans, in theory, will be able to support. The latter option is currently favored by the president, as he made clear in a Tuesday post to Truth Social.
“THE ONLY HEALTHCARE I WILL SUPPORT OR APPROVE IS SENDING THE MONEY DIRECTLY BACK TO THE PEOPLE, WITH NOTHING GOING TO THE BIG, FAT, RICH INSURANCE COMPANIES, WHO HAVE MADE $TRILLIONS, AND RIPPED OFF AMERICA LONG ENOUGH,” Trump’s post read. “THE PEOPLE WILL BE ALLOWED TO NEGOTIATE AND BUY THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, INSURANCE. POWER TO THE PEOPLE! Congress, do not waste your time and energy on anything else. This is the only way to have great Healthcare in America!!! GET IT DONE, NOW.”
According to Politico, this version of the plan — overhauling Obamacare rather than extending subsidies — was the thrust of a presentation recently given by GOP House of Representatives leaders, which included a slide deck titled “The Unaffordable Care Act.”
Despite the president’s backing, several Republican officials attending the presentation expressed frustrations. Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) lamented that GOP leaders should have been discussing plans to overhaul the Affordable Care Act “months ago,” instead of waiting until subsidies are only weeks away from expiring.
Several moderate Republicans in competitive swing districts also pushed for the extension of the subsidies in defiance of Trump’s demands.
Over the years, Republicans have been unable to put forward a concrete vision of their proposed Obamacare alternative, despite their frequent calls for it to be repealed. Trump himself infamously said he had only “concepts of plan” for healthcare during a 2024 debate.
Now as ever, Republicans lawmakers have no timeline in place for their desired healthcare bill. Three anonymous sources close to the matter did, however, claim to Politico that several proposals related to the matter are planned to be released before the end of the year.