Schumer unveils Democrats' Obamacare fix plan, likely dead in the water
Senate Democrats now have their plan to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies, but it's unlikely that Senate Republicans will give it the green light.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unveiled Democrats' plan to prevent the subsidies from expiring by the end of this year on Thursday. Senate Democrats' strategy, which mirrors the option on the table put forth by House Democrats, would extend the subsidies for three years with no tweaks or reforms.
"I'm announcing that Senate Democrats will introduce legislation for a clean, three-year extension of the current [Obamacare] tax credits," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "This is the bill, a clean, three-year extension of [Obamacare] tax credits that Democrats will bring to the floor of the Senate for a vote next Thursday. And every single Democrat will support it."
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., guaranteed Senate Democrats a proposal of their choosing, but the hope in the upper chamber is that a bipartisan compromise would emerge in time for the vote next week, which is expected to come by Dec. 11.
However, no such plan has materialized given a litany of issues both sides have with moving forward. Senate Republicans want reforms, like income caps and the inclusion of language that would prevent the enhanced subsidies from using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions, while Democrats, who are open to some reforms, largely want a clean extension of the subsidies as illustrated by Schumer's plan.
Schumer's plan is also farther reaching than what Senate Democrats initially offered as the government shutdown still raged last month. At the time, the top Senate Democrat pitched a clean, one-year extension of the subsidies, which was universally panned by Senate Republicans, who demanded that healthcare would be considered only after the government reopened.
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Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., railed against the proposal, and charged that after shutting the government down for 43 days, Democrats had, "finally, after all this time, decided what they want." He predicted that not enough Republicans would support the offer for it to advance.
"It is a complete failure, and the best they can do is say three-year extension," Barrasso said. "It's not really a credible offer at all. That's what the Democrats are talking about. I don't, I cannot in any way, imagine supporting such a thing, because it just highlights the fact that they don't have a solution for the problem they've created with the failure of Obamacare."
Then there is the factor of President Donald Trump, who has signaled that he is not open to just a simple extension of the subsidies, further adding to the futility of Democrats' pitch.
Whether Senate Republicans put forth their own plan also remains in the air.
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Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, have been working on a Republican proposal, which likely largely centers on funneling the subsidy money into Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) rather than directly to insurance companies.
The duo pitched ideas and proposals to Republicans during their weekly closed-door meeting on Tuesday, but no unified strategy emerged.
Schumer argued that Democrats' proposal would be the last shot the Republicans and Congress would have to prevent the subsidies from lapsing and stopping healthcare premiums from skyrocketing.
"If Republicans block our bill, there's no going back," he said. "We won't get another chance to halt these premium spikes before they kick in at the start of the New Year. Those insurance premiums in January will land like a hammer blow on the American people."
