The U.S. is barreling towards a health care cliff at the end of the month. If the enhanced subsidies expire, as now appears inevitable, premium costs for tens millions of Americans enrolled in ACA plans will spike.
Neither party wants to be blamed by voters if that happens, and lawmakers are still pointing fingers at each other.
Both pieces of legislation only received 51 votes — nine short of the 60-vote threshold needed to pass the Senate.
Every Democrat voted against the GOP plan, which was sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) was the only Republican to vote "no." The Cassidy-Crapo proposal focused on letting the subsidies expire and putting funding into health savings accounts (HSAs).
Republicans Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Josh Hawley (Missouri), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska) voted for the Democrat's bill, which would have extended the expiring subsidies
Now, rank-and-file House moderates in both parties are scrambling for compromise, launching a pair of Hail Mary discharge petitions this week designed to force votes over the opposition of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other GOP leaders.
Johnson is vowing to vote on a health care package next week. That proposal does not extend the ObamaCare subsidies, however, and is not expected to pass in the Senate, if it even makes it that far.
Both discharge petitions already have the endorsement of more than 10 Republicans — an extraordinary demonstration of unrest among the GOP rank-and-file.
But if either petition is to succeed, it will require an overwhelming majority of Democrats to sign on. And many of them said they're waiting for marching orders from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
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