Congress has returned for the second session of the 119th Congress, and with it comes a renewed fight over the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that expired at the end of 2025. Lawmakers have a short time frame to restore the subsidies before open enrollment ends January 15, even as millions of Americans are already experiencing higher premiums or losing coverage due to rising costs.
Editor's note: This article was updated on Thursday, January 8, at 7 p.m.
The House of Representatives on Thursday voted 230-196 in favor of legislation to retroactively renew the enhanced subsidies for three years, starting January 1.
The vote has been weeks in the making but it's unclear if the legislation will go further given that the Senate has previously rejected the measure.
Democrats in the lower chamber cheered the passage after 17 Republican representatives crossed party lines to approve the "Breaking the Gridlock Act" bill. One of those leaders, Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, who has long opposed the Affordable Care Act, said he voted in favor of the extension of the subsidies to prevent his constituents of being hit with severe health insurance cost increases. "I should not have to vote for a temporary patch to a broken system, but I will always put the people of Wisconsin first,” he said.
Without the extension, millions of Americans will see their premiums rise an average of 114 percent from $888 to $1,904, according to KFF.
Before the holiday recess, House Democrats pushed to bring the legislation to the floor, but House Speaker Mike Johnson refused to bring the bill forward. Instead, the House passed a separate health care package in December that omitted the subsidy extension. But four Republicans joined Democrats and signed a discharge petition to force a vote on legislation for a “clean” extension without any other provisions. On Wednesday evening, the House voted 221-205 to advance the petition, with nine Republicans crossing party lines, setting up the floor vote on Thursday.
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The bill will face tough opposition in the Senate, where previous Democratic- and Republican-backed health care proposals have repeatedly failed to clear the 60-vote threshold. The Senate is also not obligated to take up the bill.
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However, a bipartisan Senate group is working on its own two-year extension proposal that would add new restrictions, such as income caps and minimum premium payments, according to Politico. The proposal would also incorporate cost-sharing reduction measures and expanded access to health savings accounts, provisions included in the House-passed bill from December. Any Senate deal would also need approval from the House.