Affordable Care Act Subsidies

The Senate held dueling votes on Democrats’ clean three‑year extension of enhanced ACA premium tax credits and the GOP’s Cassidy–Crapo “Health Care Freedom for Patients Act” redirecting funds into HSAs, and both measures failed in cloture votes, each receiving 51 votes — short of the 60 needed. With enhanced credits set to expire Jan. 1 and millions of marketplace enrollees facing sharply higher premiums, lawmakers said they will pivot to bipartisan negotiations to seek a short‑term or compromise fix.

Moderate House Republicans have filed discharge petitions led by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Josh Gottheimer to force floor votes on one‑ and two‑year extensions of enhanced ACA subsidies, drawing about 11 GOP signers and backing from lawmakers such as Mike Lawler, Don Bacon and Ryan Mackenzie — and Rep. Kevin Kiley has signed both petitions. Kiley told NPR he supports a temporary extension, called Speaker Mike Johnson’s competing subsidy‑free plan “hastily thrown together,” and warned that subsidy users shouldn’t “pay the price for congressional inaction” as the House prepares to vote this week on the GOP plan.