There are two Obamacare proposals destined for failure on Thursday as the deadline to extend Biden-era subsidies inches closer, and both Senate Republicans and Democrats hope that a bipartisan path forward can be paved after the dust settles.
Senate Democrats are going full speed ahead with their three-year extension of the Obamacare enhanced premium subsidies, which Republicans are expected to block over a lack of reforms in a plan that they have nearly all charged as unserious.
And the GOP’s plan, which would abandon the subsidies altogether in favor of health savings accounts (HSAs), is expected to be blocked by Senate Democrats over the inclusion of anti-abortion restrictions and concerns that healthcare premium prices would still skyrocket.
But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle hope that once the plans go down in flames, they can begin the work of crafting a bipartisan solution.
‘I think the question would be, are there the Democrats who, outside of their leadership, are actually interested in the solution, and not just an issue? You know, who want to work with some Republicans,’ Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital.
‘I can’t predict what’s going to happen, but there’s still a fairly high level of interest among members on our side, and I think some on the Dem side too,’ he continued. ‘But I think that, at least for now … I’m guessing they’ve been asked to stand down, you know, let them, let them get their messaging vote on it, and we’ll see what happens.’
Bipartisan negotiations have been ongoing in the background, but both sides have opted to go with partisan plans instead. Should both fail, it leaves them little time to address the issue before Congress leaves Washington, D.C., next week until the New Year.
‘I would hope that we could still negotiate in the near term,’ Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said.
Republicans argue that the subsidies are riddled with fraud and have drawn a red line on more stringent enforcement of the Hyde Amendment, which prevents taxpayer dollars from funding abortions.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who has been working with Republicans on a plan, said that the Hyde Amendment argument was ‘not going to happen’ with his Democratic caucus colleagues.
‘Their insistence on that, and maybe that will go away, but their insistence on that basically means these premium increases are going to hammer the American people, and frankly, I don’t understand why — this should be a bipartisan,’ King said. ‘Let’s get together and figure this thing out.’
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital he hoped that the failed votes ‘brings everybody to the negotiating table, and then we’ll get serious about a bipartisan solution.’
But Cornyn believed that it would likely be a problem that lawmakers would deal with in January, after the subsidies expire.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans argue that Schumer and Senate Democrats are using their plan as a political cudgel, painting the GOP into a corner on a position that they won’t support, and then using it down the line in the 2026 midterms should the subsidies expire.
‘There’s a very simple solution for them. If they really believe that is the Democratic strategy, they can defeat it by simply voting for this measure,’ Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital.