Partisan divides are growing wider after the Senate on Thursday rejected two health care bills focused on the Affordable Care Act, drawing criticism from several health care organizations.
One was a Democratic bill that would have extended the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits for three years. The subsidies have reduced premiums for those receiving health care on the marketplaces and will expire at the end of the year. It is estimated that if the tax credits expire, ACA Marketplace premiums will double on average next year.
The other was a Republican bill that would not have expanded subsidies but instead would have provided up to $1,500 a year in health savings account payments for those earning less than 700% of the federal poverty level. However, this money could not have been used to pay the premiums.
The bills needed at least 60 votes to pass, but both received votes of 51 to 48. Republican Senators Susan Collins (Maine), Josh Hawley (Missouri), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Dan Sullivan (Alaska) voted in favor of the Democratic bill. No Democrats voted for the Republican bill and Senator Rand Paul (Kentucky) was the only Republican to oppose this bill.
Families USA, a patient advocacy organization, condemned the Senate vote.
“Today’s vote in the Senate to reject the extension of premium tax credits will have immediate and devastating consequences for the health and finances of families across the country, and that will ripple through the entire health care system we all depend on,” Anthony Wright, CEO of Families USA, said in a statement. “With just days before the deadline for Americans to sign up for coverage that begins Jan. 1, senators decided to allow premiums to double or more for 22 million Americans who rely on these premium tax credits to make coverage affordable.”
The organization also called on the House to take a step forward to extend the tax credits, although there is currently no consensus on a plan in the House yet.
The Association of Affiliated Community Plans (ACAP) echoed these comments.
“Families deserve a viable response to skyrocketing premium costs,” said Margaret A. Murray, ACAP Executive Director. “Snippets of information aren’t helpful; policy solutions are. These enhanced tax credits offered to families who rely on Marketplace coverage have been a tremendously successful way to help make coverage affordable. Simply allowing subsidies to lapse is a way to intentionally shoot costs skyward for millions of families. This moment demands policy solutions that help working- and middle-class families this holiday season, not split-screen messaging efforts.”
Community Catalyst, an organization focused on racial equity and health justice, also spoke out against the vote, saying the Senate’s inaction, combined with the One Big Beautiful Bill, will severely harm access to care.
“We know who will be hardest hit: Black, Latino, immigrant and low-income families, who already face the steepest affordability barriers because decades of policy decisions have limited wages, wealth and access to stable, affordable coverage,” said Michelle Sternthal, director of government affairs at Community Catalyst. “If Republicans were serious about cost-cutting, they would immediately pass a clean, permanent extension of these tax credits and repeal the dangerous health care cuts in HR 1.”
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