Senate Democrats are poised to vote down a stopgap spending bill to reopen the government for the 10th time on Thursday, insisting they will not back down from Congress’ push to raise health care benefits.
Repeated votes on funding bills are a daily occurrence in Congress, highlighting how out of control the situation has become. At times, it was the only issue on the Senate floor, while House Republicans were completely out of Washington. The standoff lasted more than two weeks, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed and without guaranteed paychecks and effectively paralyzing Congress.
“Every day that passes, more and more Americans are seeing their paychecks go down,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, adding that there were thousands of flight delays across the country.
Thune, a South Dakota Republican, has repeatedly pressed Democrats to end their strategy of voting against stopgap funding bills. It didn’t work. And while bipartisan talks continue on a potential compromise on health care, no meaningful progress has been made toward reopening the government. Thune also proposed holding a vote at a later date on extending the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies for marketplace health plans, but said he would not “guarantee the outcome or outcome.”
Democrats say they won’t move until they can guarantee an extension of the health insurance tax credit. They warn that millions of Americans who buy their own health insurance, including small business owners, farmers and contractors, will see significant price increases when premiums are lowered in the coming weeks. With the November 1st deadline in most states, voters are expected to demand that Republicans enter into serious negotiations.
Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer said in a floor speech: “The ACA crisis is looming over everyone’s minds, but Republicans seem prepared to let people’s insurance premiums go up.”
Still, Thune was also trying a different tack Thursday: a vote to advance the spending bill. This could accelerate the Senate, or it could deepen the divide between the two parties.
Subsidy deadline for medical plans
Democrats are rallying around health care as a top priority while opposing a vote on Republican legislation that would reopen the government. But they also warn that time is running out for a deal to block many large health insurance increases.
When Democrats took control of Congress during the pandemic, they increased subsidies for health plans in the Affordable Care Act. This pushed enrollment under President Barack Obama’s signature health care law to new levels and lowered the rate of uninsured to historic lows. According to the healthcare research nonprofit KFF, nearly 24 million people currently receive health insurance through subsidized marketplaces.
Democrats and some Republicans worry that many people will give up on insurance if prices rise significantly. The tax credits don’t expire until next year, but health insurance companies are expected to send out notices of price increases soon. Most states will impose a curfew on November 1st.
Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she has heard from “families in complete panic that their premiums are doubling.”
“These are small business owners who are having to consider whether to give up the job they love and get employer-sponsored health insurance elsewhere or give up their insurance altogether,” she added.
Murray also said that if many people decide to drop their health insurance, it could have an impact on health insurance overall because fewer people have health insurance. As a result, prices could rise across the board, she said.
Some Republicans acknowledge that expiring tax credits could be a problem and have suggested possible compromises to address it, but there is little consensus within the party.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) this week called coronavirus-era subsidies “profiteering,” adding, “When you subsidize a health care system and pay more to insurance companies, the rates go up.”
President Trump said, “I hope we can get a deal done for good health care,” but he had no meaningful impact on the debate. And Thune is insisting that Democrats vote to reopen the government first before negotiating on health care.
If Congress were to negotiate major health care changes, it would likely take weeks, if not longer, to reach a compromise.
voting on spending bills
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are scheduled to vote on a bill Thursday that would provide funding for the Defense Department and several other areas of government. That could make the Senate consider a spending bill a Thune priority, paving the way for military pay, but the House would ultimately have to return to Washington to vote on a final bill negotiated between the two chambers.
There is also the possibility that it could cause a crack in the Democratic Party’s resolve. “If they want to block the defense bill, I don’t think that’s a very good idea for them,” Thune said Thursday.
It wasn’t clear whether Democrats would give the bill the support it needs to move forward. They discussed the idea at a luncheon Wednesday, saying they want to review the Republican proposal and make sure it includes spending that is a priority for them.
The vote would not move the Senate any closer to an immediate solution to the government shutdown, but it could at least focus the Senate on an issue where there is bipartisan agreement.
Still, there was a growing sense on Capitol Hill that the end of the stagnation was nowhere in sight.
“So many people asked all of us, how is this going to end?” House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “We don’t know.”
Groves and Jalonick contributed to The Associated Press.
