House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted swing-district Republicans who are upset about not renewing expiring Obamacare subsidies will still support the party’s bill to provide alternative ways to lower health insurance costs for all Americans.
The House is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the GOP bill, which includes provisions designed to provide consumers more choices when shopping for health insurance and price transparency on prescription drug costs.
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said roughly a dozen swing-district Republicans wanted to hold a vote on extending Democrats’ COVID-era expansion of Obamacare premium tax credits, which are set to expire Dec. 31.
“We looked for a way to try to allow for that pressure release valve, and it just was not to be,” he said.
The speaker said Republicans negotiated over the weekend to try to find agreement on language for an amendment to the GOP health care bill that would extend the enhanced subsidies, but they could not reach agreement.
Mr. Johnson said House rules require that the amendment would have included an offset for the cost of extending the subsidies.
He said Republicans floated several ways to meet the “payfor” rule but the swing-district members “decided collectively none of those were acceptable to them.”
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and other swing-district Republicans are still expected to offer an amendment to extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies as the House Rules Committee considers the bill Tuesday afternoon.
But it will likely not be given a floor vote.
Mr. Johnson said he doesn’t expect that hang-up to derail the broader health-care bill.
“They will all join in unity on voting for this bill,” he said. “Instead of just trying to assist 7% of Americans, this is for 100% of Americans, and we can handle that and do that together.”
Mr. Fitzpatrick launched a discharge petition last week to try to force a vote on his bipartisan bill to extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies for two years with an income cap, fraud guardrails and an option for consumers to put half of their subsidy into a Health Savings Account.
The discharge petition has 24 signatures, split equally between Republicans and Democrats, but needs 218, a majority of the House, to succeed.
Most House Democrats are not signing onto that or a similar bipartisan discharge petition on a one-year extension of the subsidies.
Their leadership is pushing for a three-year extension without any tweaks.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, is asking four Republicans to sign his discharge petition to do that, even though the companion Senate bill fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
Democrats have made no secret of their plans to use the issue to their advantage in the 2026 midterm elections.
“Donald Trump and extremist Republicans have zero interest in extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits. That’s the reality,” Mr. Jeffries said. “The American people know it.”
