A handful of moderate Republicans in the US House of Representatives forced a vote to extend healthcare subsidies used by millions of Americans that are set to expire at the end of the year.
The House vote is slated for Wednesday evening but if it passes – which is expected – it will face an uphill battle in the Senate.
The surprise vote is a last-ditch effort by some Republicans to put on record their support for extending healthcare subsidies in some form – ahead of their expiration and expected steep rise in premiums for millions.
Without the subsidies, insurance premiums through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, are on course to more than double.
The moderate Republicans forced the vote using a mechanism called a discharge petition, which with enough support, allows members to bring measures to the floor for a full vote.
Four Republicans – Pennsylvania’s Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan and Brian Fitzpatrick, as well as New York’s Mike Lawler – signed the discharge petition along with all Democrats.
They will vote on a measure that extends Covid-era subsidies for another three years.
Moderate Republicans said they do not support the extension, but many also said they would rather support some kind of extension, than watch the subsidies expire.
“Our only request was a Floor vote on this compromise, so that the American People’s voice could be heard on this issue,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement.
“As I’ve stated many times before, the only policy that is worse than a clean three-year extension without any reforms, is a policy of complete expiration without any bridge,” he went on to say.
On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said there would be no vote on the subsidies because Republicans could not agree on the best way to extend them. Johnson wanted any extension to be offset with spending cuts.
But 24 hours later, moderate Republicans – many of whom will be in tough re-election battles come November – pushed past Johnson.
Should the measure pass the House, it will go to the Senate, where it currently has some Republican support, but not enough to pass.
When asked when the Senate would vote on the three-year extension, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Wednesday, “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it”.
Should the subsidies expire, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that there will be an average of 3.8 million more uninsured people each year, on top of healthcare insurance premiums more than doubling for millions.
By BBC News
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