House Republican leaders delivered a presentation to members Tuesday morning slamming the enhanced tax credits for the Affordable Care Act that are due to expire at the end of the year.
It comes as members of both parties and chambers are rushing to develop, and pass, legislation to lower health care costs by Dec. 31, when the Obamacare subsidies will expire and premiums are set to go through the roof.
There are multiple opinions among Republicans about whether the best path forward to keep the price of health care down involves extending the tax credits — possibly with some modifications to appease conservatives — or constructing an entirely new framework, like an overhaul of health savings accounts.
President Donald Trump weighed in Tuesday morning on behalf of the latter approach, saying “THE ONLY HEALTHCARE I WILL SUPPORT OR APPROVE IS SENDING THE MONEY DIRECTLY BACK TO THE PEOPLE, WITH NOTHING GOING TO THE BIG, FAT, RICH INSURANCE COMPANIES.”
“Congress, do not waste your time and energy on anything else,” he wrote on Truth Social.
A slide deck shared by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in the Tuesday meeting made clear that House GOP leadership also falls in the overhaul camp. One slide viewed by POLITICO was titled “The Unaffordable Care Act,” and highlighted statistics showing that premiums have increased by 80 percent since the ACA’s passage. It also claimed that more than 50 percent of Obamacare enrollees did not file a single claim this year.
Walking into the meeting, Scalise said in a brief interview that he planned to keep talking with the chairs of three key committees of jurisdiction over health policy — Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and the Workforce.
“A lot of members have called me or texted me during the break about the bills they have, and I’ve been making sure everybody’s directed to the committees and talk to the chairman,” Scalise said. “Ultimately, we’re gonna go through regular order on this.”
But the leadership’s position is making some Republicans nervous — and frustrated. At one point during the meeting, Rep. Nathaniel Moran, a Republican in a deep-red Texas district, challenged GOP leaders on why they were now blasting the enhanced Obamacare tax credits just weeks before their expiration date.
House Republicans, Moran continued, should have been talking about alternatives months ago, according to four people granted anonymity to share a private exchange inside the meeting room.
Republican leaders are also facing intense pressure from vulnerable GOP moderates to extend the expiring premium tax credits.
But other House Republicans were unapologetic Tuesday about their desire to put a conservative imprint on health care policy. Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), the chair of the Republican Study Committee, said after the presentation his party should “absolutely” pursue the party-line budget reconciliation process to pass a GOP health care bill.
“The Democrats are incapable of coming up with a plan that is competitive, transparent and actually reduces costs,” said Pfluger, who has been hosting RSC discussions on policies for a second partisan policy package that can pass with a simple majority in the Senate. “The No. 1 bucket that we are focused on in a reconciliation 2.0 is affordability.”
House GOP leaders have not given a timeline for any health care package, but are planning to unveil at least several bills on the topic before the end of the year, according to three people granted anonymity to describe internal strategy discussions.
As House Republicans huddled in the basement of the Capitol building for the first time since September, White House deputy chief of staff James Blair told reporters at a separate event Tuesday morning that while there’s some interest in a bipartisan discussion on health policy, “Dems have not really demonstrated an interest in having constructive conversations.”
In recent weeks, Blair has been hosting health policy meetings at the White House with providers and representatives from hospitals, along with White House legislative staff, according to one person granted anonymity to share details of the private gatherings. It’s a sign that the administration is taking the political ramifications of the credits’ expirations seriously, with Democrats likely to hammer the GOP on the issue in the 2026 midterms.
Democrats are so far continuing to dig their heels in on a “clean” extension of the subsidies. But many moderate Democrats are willing to negotiate modifications as part of an extension.
