By Bo Erickson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -An unlikely alliance of Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress is pushing to address expiring Obamacare health tax credits in upcoming legislation to keep the government funded past September 30.
The move could give Senate Democrats something to present to their voters as a rare win at a time Republicans control both chambers of Congress, and also allow President Donald Trump’s party to prevent the year-end expiration of a popular benefit headed into a midterm election year.
Republicans aligned with Trump, Democratic lawmakers, and representatives of the healthcare industry have separately called for extension of the tax credits used by many of the more than 24 million Americans who accessed healthcare coverage through the marketplace in 2025.
“Families getting notice in about six weeks that their healthcare premiums are going to go up at the end of the year is not the right direction,” said Republican Representative Jen Kiggans, a nurse practitioner from Virginia, who, with 11 other Republicans, supports legislation to extend the subsidies for one year.
BIDEN SIGNED INTO LAW
The expiring tax credits were signed into law by former Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022, during the pandemic. Eligibility expanded and out-of-pocket premiums were capped for benchmark plans under the Affordable Care Act at 8.5% of income.
If Congress fails to act, Americans’ premiums in the ACA marketplace could rise on average by 18% next year, according to healthcare nonprofit, KFF.
When the ACA passed in 2010, it was derided by Republicans as “Obamacare” because of its inception by former Democratic President Barack Obama. But 15 years later, some Republicans are warning this unresolved healthcare tax issue could be a detriment to their base and viewed as a potential tax hike. The party’s leadership has not yet agreed to a solution.
Advocacy groups from the conservative Americans for a Balanced Budget to the American Medical Association have urged Congress to extend the credits.
Kiggans and many of the House Republicans pushing for a fix are in the most competitive House districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, according to nonpartisan analysts.
“I struggle with Republicans sometimes not being in the arena with healthcare issues, and this is a no-brainer for me,” Kiggans said.
Other conservatives balk at the program’s cost, estimated at $380 billion by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Senate Democrats’ votes are necessary to pass government funding due to the chamber’s 60-vote threshold for most legislation. Their leaders are leaning into healthcare concerns but have not yet made a public push for the expiring tax credits to be addressed in the government funding debate.
“The American people are hurting because of how they have decimated healthcare. We need a bipartisan negotiation to undo that damage,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday, referencing the estimated healthcare impacts from the Republican tax-and-spend bill in July.
“We need to extend these tax breaks as soon as possible,” said Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, who is pushing for a fix in the upcoming stopgap government funding bill. “With families already being squeezed by high prices, this is the last thing they need.”
(Reporting by Bo Erickson, additional reporting by David Morgan; editing by Scott Malone and Rod Nickel)
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