Healthcare votes fail in Senate

WASHINGTON—Lawmakers rejected test votes on two partisan healthcare bills on Thursday afternoon, prolonging a healthcare funding stalemate that may not be resolved before the clock runs out this month.

Four Republican senators—Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska—bucked their party to support a Democrat-led bill that would extend COVID-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies for three more years. But all four also voted for the Crapo-Cassidy version that would instead create health savings accounts with the expired subsidy funds. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only Republican to vote against it.

With a legislative deadlock and slim chances for House versions to pass, the subsidies currently appear all but guaranteed to expire on Dec. 31.

“We got a commitment from the majority, which is hard to get, to let us write a bill and get a vote on the floor,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told me. “And then we had a month for them to come to us and say, ‘OK, we actually want to deal with this problem.’ This was their last chance to change this outcome before the year ends.”

Open enrollment for Obamacare plans has been running since Nov. 1. Early data show that more Americans are signing up for plans than in years past. But nationwide, insurers are raising premiums by roughly 26%. And enrollees who previously had additional subsidies since 2021 will lose them in the new year.

Republican senators say they still want to work on more comprehensive plans, but they have little to no time left in the calendar year.

“No matter what passes at this point, there’s no way to actually get this implemented immediately in January, February, just based on timing and how long it would take to be able to implement in all the different companies and everything else,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told me.

In a floor speech after Thursday’s votes, Murkowski complained that the two bills had neither gone through the committee process nor made any attempt at compromise. “We failed to work together, we failed to reach consensus, we failed all those who face these shockingly unaffordable increases in their health insurance as they’re looking into the new year,” she said.

In a news conference, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of failing to negotiate. He called his three-year extension bill the only workable option this late in the year. The Crapo-Cassidy alternative was just one of five different Republican proposals that popped up in the past two weeks, but it was also one of the only ones that did not compromise with Democrats on any main points.

“There’s a lot of choices here. But right now, we have an immediate crisis,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told reporters. She pointed out that although Republicans have said they want to save money, they also rejected a proposed bill earlier this week that would have extended the subsidies for only one year.

“They not only rejected this three years—despite four of them, including a very conservative Republican, voting with us today—they also rejected a two-year, [and] they also rejected a very clear vote on a simple one-year extension that basically would have been the same amount of money as they sent to Argentina,” Klobuchar said, referring to the Trump administration’s $20 billion bailout for Argentina’s economy.

In the House, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., filed a discharge petition on Wednesday to force a vote on a bipartisan bill he sponsored to extend the subsidies for two years. As of Thursday afternoon, it had 58 signatories, including 15 Republicans—far short of the 218 required to achieve a floor vote.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., filed a competing discharge petition on his own bill to extend the subsidies for one year, add income limits, and allow more significant reforms in 2027. As of Thursday afternoon, it had only 33 signatures.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said they are working on several proposals that could be unveiled next week. But senators expect to be tied up with votes on the National Defense Authorization Act, which must pass before the end of the year. Next week is the last scheduled week of votes for both chambers until January.

So far, President Donald Trump has not publicly stated which specific policy he wants to see from Congress. He’s said generally that he supports funding going directly to the American people instead of to insurance companies. But he told reporters that could happen in a variety of ways. At a Thursday news conference, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed the subsidy cliff on Democrats but said Trump still wants to find a solution to lower healthcare costs.

“The president is prepared to take action on healthcare, and he wants Republicans on the Hill to do the same,” Leavitt said. “The president is working with his healthcare policy team here at the White House as well as Republicans on Capitol Hill to find a solution.”

Asked if Trump would release a specific plan on the expiring subsidies, Leavitt answered, “You’ll hear more from the president and from the White House on that very soon.”