The House of Representatives on Wednesday night approved a health care bill that Republicans say will lower health care costs by 11 percent.
The House voted 216 -211 in favor of the Lower Health Care Premiums for All American Act, legislation that will expand association health plans, use funds to pay for cost-sharing reductions, make reforms to pharmacy benefit managers, and enhance access to “stop-loss” policies for insurers to protect against catastrophic insurance claims.
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The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday estimated that if enacted, the bill would reduce the deficit by $35.6 billion over the 2026-2035 period, lead to 100,000 fewer Americans with health insurance, and lower gross benchmark premiums by 11 percent, on average, through 2035.
But the bill doesn’t include an extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, which are due to expire on December 31. Without the extension, average yearly premiums for coverage that millions of Americans purchase on the ACA marketplace are expected to increase 114 percent and an estimated four million people will lose coverage.
Democrats have pushed for a three-year extension of the subsidies, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has declined to bring the legislation to the House floor for a vote. On Wednesday morning, four Republican moderates signed a discharge petition led by Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffrees of New York to force a vote on the extension. The discharge petition has 218 signatures, enough to bring a vote to the House floor next month. The group of Republicans who broke ranks included Pennsylvania representatives Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob Bresnahan, and Ryan Mackenzie, and New York’s Mike Lawler.
Even if a vote on a three-year extension of the subsidies passes the House, it still must be approved by the Senate and signed into law by President Donald Trump. Last week the Senate failed to get the 60 votes needed to pass a similar bill and Trump has indicated he favors legislation that gives money directly to Americans to pay for out-of-pocket health care expenses rather than the subsidies, which go directly to insurers.