GOP Leaders See No Chance of ACA Deal by Deadline

WASHINGTON—Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) said Congress won’t be able to extend federal health-insurance subsidies before leaving for the holidays, ending hopes for a last-minute deal and punting any possible fix into the new year.

“We’re not going to pass anything by the end of this week, but I do think there’s a potential pathway in January,” Thune said at a press conference on Tuesday. Lawmakers are expected to depart Washington before the weekend and won’t return until Jan. 5.

The expiration of enhanced Covid-era subsidies at the end of the year will drive up insurance costs for millions of Americans who rely on them to reduce the price tag of coverage under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

As the final days of this year’s legislative calendar drew to a close, last-minute talks continued in the Senate between rank-and-file senators from both parties, though participants acknowledged the best they could probably hope for was the release of a bipartisan framework before the break—and even that was questionable.

On the other side of the Capitol, House centrists pushed for votes on compromise legislation that would extend the subsidies while making changes such as an income cap—an income level above which ACA enrollees can’t obtain federal subsidies. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) blamed Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) for the impasse, while the Republican leaders accused Schumer of being more interested in using the healthcare issue as a cudgel in next year’s midterm elections than in solving the problem.

Democrats “do not want a solution. They want an issue in the upcoming election,” said Johnson.

Republicans in competitive races are acutely aware of the political peril they face. Democrats already are targeting many of them with ads blaming them for increased healthcare costs. In intense, through-the weekend talks, vulnerable House Republicans from swing districts pressed for the chance to vote on a compromise plan that would both extend the subsidies and respond to Republican criticisms about abuse of the program by making some policy changes. 

Johnson on Tuesday poured cold water on an attempt by those centrist Republicans to get a vote on such a compromise.

House Republicans still are expected to pass a GOP healthcare bill on Wednesday that would expand access to association health plans, which generally allow small employers to band together and provide health insurance, and appropriate money to fund the cost-sharing reductions that reduce out-of-pocket spending for lower-income ACA enrollees. It doesn’t include any ACA extensions or the health savings accounts favored by many Republicans. 

The Congressional Budget Office said the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $35.6 billion over a decade, but it would also reduce the number of people with health insurance by an average of 100,000 a year. 

A day earlier, Thune ruled out holding a vote on a straight three-year ACA extension, an approach pursued by House Democrats, after a similar measure failed to advance in the Senate last week.

Republican and Democratic centrists have been fighting to find a middle ground to avoid the price spikes that will hit about 20 million Americans next year when enhanced federal subsidies expire. But many GOP lawmakers staunchly oppose any ACA extension, while many Democrats are insisting on a multiyear extension with no changes—such as income caps—and see no reason to give ground headed into the midterm elections.

A law first enacted in 2021 during the pandemic expanded and enlarged tax credits for buying health insurance through the ACA marketplace. Starting next year, the subsidies will revert to prepandemic levels for lower- and middle-income Americans. The subsidies will end entirely for households earning more than four times the federal poverty line.

Read more: GOP Leaders See No Chance of ACA Deal by Deadline, Health Insurance Plans Set to Rise - WSJ

Mobile still negotiating City Hall lease, mulling move

Speaking in Mobile’s former city offices at the History Museum of Mobile, Mayor Spiro Cheriogotis said the city is negotiating a plan to keep its municipal headquarters in Government Plaza, but is still considering relocating.

Cheriogotis told reporters after the Mobile City Council’s final meeting of the year on Tuesday morning, the city and the Mobile County Commission continue exchanging information one week after District 3 Commissioner Randall Dueitt accused the city of failing to pay many months’ worth of rent for the half a dozen floors it occupies at 205 Government Street.

Read more : Mobile still negotiating City Hall lease, mulling move | Mobile | lagniappemobile.com