Posted on 12/17/2025 9:13:39 AM PST by Miami Rebel
Four moderate House Republicans are rebelling against Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to join his Democratic counterpart in forcing a vote on enhanced Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of this year.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., all joined a discharge petition by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on his push for a three-year extension of the subsidies.
A discharge petition is a mechanism for overriding the will of House leaders to get a chamber-wide vote on specific legislation, provided it has support from a majority of lawmakers.
In this case, the four House Republicans' signatures put Jeffries' petition at 218 — clinching the critical majority threshold.
"I've always supported bipartisan solutions that would bring about healthcare affordability in this country," Mackenzie told Fox News Digital on Wednesday of his decision. "Leader Jeffries and the Democrats have refused to sign onto either of those bipartisan solutions. And so at this point, our leadership is not calling up a bill to extend the [Obamacare] tax credits."
He called for a vote on the Democrat-led solution as well as two bipartisan bills offering one and two-year extensions, respectively, with reforms.
It comes despite Johnson warning Republicans earlier on Wednesday not to support Jeffries' petition, arguing it was not the best way to legislate. Johnson told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that it was effectively "doing an end-run around the majority party, the speaker or the regular process is not the best way to make law."
The House is expected to vote on a bill that Republicans say is aimed at lowering healthcare costs for all Americans, without extending the subsidies — which they argue are part of a deeply flawed public healthcare system.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
AMEN!!
Weak wimpy money grabbing men..
Here's the problem with your approach: The insurance industry won't do it.
It's easier and cheaper for them to buy members of Congress to keep the subsidies flowing.
The evidence for this is that there are vast sections of the "Affordable" Care Act that are unconstitutional on their face, and yet nobody in the insurance industry or in a state government has taken it upon themselves to file legal challenges to them.
They have no incentive to fix a "problem" that generates hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue for them.
RINOs spit
Even tho Democrat policies are usually damaging and thus, unpopular, they frequently win because they all hang together, unlike Repubs where we have too many wanna be chiefs.
They are going to have to extend them for US citizens at least. I have a friend, well more than a couple who are on Obamacare. Their rate will go from $425 to $1150 per month. If you don’t think that will impact the primaries, then you are wildly out of touch.
Unfortunately, for now the best thing we can do is to extend the Obamacare subsidies.
We need to do well in the midterms in 2026 and then Vance/Rubio ticket MUST win in 2028.
"Bipartisan solution" means "Exceptionally bad corruption and skullduggery".
That’s been the problem all along. The insurance companies “follow” the Obamacare mandates and are paid handsomely to do so.
Best plan is to short-term extend with a mandatory retooling the insurance coverages away from the Obamacare mandates. The Admin & Repubs are trying but always the Dems threaten to filibuster and then have the media blame Republicans.
The main problem is the cliff, where earning one extra $ could cost you $24,000. Needs to be a phase out of 8 - 10 cents per $ over. The Republicans were stupid not to see this poison pill coming. There is no private healthcare option left for many people that don’t have insurance through a company.
Many small business owners are spitting mad over this. First Obamacare destroyed the previous private market for major medical healthcare plans, then made it totally unaffordable without subsidies. The Republicans did nothing about this for years and allowed this to happen by their inaction.
In addition to making people face the music and pay the cost of the ACA, by avoiding taxpayer subsidies to the program overall, you have to make the program transparent down to the premium payer level. Each insured under an ACA-regulated insurance coverage should be able to review their premium statement to see how much they are paying for their own coverage and how much they are subsidizing others (or being subsidized by others). I think that last detail is what will destroy political support for the ACA.
These four are classic Republicans, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
So, these four a-hole Rinos are more interested in trying to protect their little sweet fiefdom as congressmen than they are in the good of the American people.
It’s a function of politics. Unfortunately, we need these four little fiefdoms to maintain control of the House.
But not these little perfumed princes who vote with democrats
My PPACA reform plan:
PARTIAL ENHANCED SUBSIDY CONTINUATION [for 2026 & 2027]
Except as required by the Fair Share PPACA premium minimums below, the monthly to be paid on a plan would not exceed the Schumer formula amount by more than 1.5 times the household’s income in percentage terms of FPL exceeds 90% FPL in terms of dollars.
If the household’s income is 400% of FPL [$128,600 for 4 people], the percentage difference is 310% and increase would typically be capped at $465/month.
If the household’s income is 300% of FPL [$96,450 for 3 people], the percentage difference is 210% and increase would typically be capped at $315/month.
FAIR SHARE PPACA PREMIUM MINIMUMS
I would impose these premium minimums, whichever is the higher:
1. 2% of the Medicare premium amount per insured year of age as of the start of coverage
2. a percentage of the premium amount equal to the household income percentage of FPL - 60% divided by 3
For a 5-year-old, 7-year-old, 32-year-old and 34-year-old, the ages would sum to 88 and the monthly absolute minimum premium amount would be a (88/65)*$185 or $250.46.
For a 5-year-old kid and a 27-year-old mom the ages would sum to 32 and the monthly absolute minimum premium amount would be (32/65)*$185 or $91.07.
To make all that palatable to the Democrats, I would lower the original PPACA subsidy threshold from 100% of FPL to 80% of FPL.
PPACA AFFORDABILITY
Silver plans would be limited to a maximum deductible of three times the Medicare Part A amount [2026: $1736].
I would also make bronze plans low cost by having $10,000 50% co-pays with $10,000 paid up front to the insurance company by the insured. Unused amounts of the $10,000s would be refunded after the policy is closed out.
I would also make copper plans low cost by only covering Part A scope items plus what Part B would pay for any general or regional anesthesia surgery.
I would allow Federal PPACA exchanges to offer Interstate Class Drug Plans,
exempt from state control that cover under contract at the time of policy issue at least:
1. 80% of all FDA-approved recombinant drugs by key active entity
2. 80% of all key FDA breakthrough chemical active entities under patent as of January 1 of the coverage year
used in a drug approved by the FDA by August 1 prior
3. 80% of all key chemical active entities under patent as of January 1 of the coverage year
used in a drug approved by the FDA by August 1 prior
4. 90% of all WHO “essential” drugs
Interstate Class Drug Plans that don’t meet all those minimums could be sold off the exchanges.
This system would allow for genuine negotiation between drug plans and drug companies. Drug plans would have an incentive to try to buy drugs from drug companies and drug companies would have an incentive to make deals to make sales.
Plan formulary drugs would be supplied on an all-the-doctors prescribe basis. The co-pays on plan formulary drugs would be roughly equal to mere manufacturing cost.
Non-formulary drugs might be covered by timed vouchers with plan-set amounts ($700 plan pay, 30-day supply, TV_Drug_32, to be dispensed by plan-listed pharmacy in June 2026). Voucher plans would not have fixed premiums.
The copper, bronze and Interstate Class Drug Plans would not be subsidy eligible.
EMTALA (and Medicaid ER) Reform
To get care under the EMTALA or Medicaid for yourself or custodial child, the hospital might require you to
1. pay $100 in cash or by financial organization card accepted at the emergency care facility,
2. hand over your valid SNAP card and tender a matching valid domestic governmental picture ID,
3. hand over your valid domestic driver’s license,
4. hand over your valid US passport,
5. hand over your operable Apple or Samsung cellphone model listed by a current regulation issued by a Secretary of HHS, or
6. hand over a valid domestic governmental picture ID of yours and
a tender matching financial institution statement less than 70 days old showing a domestic governmental or employer direct deposit of at least $150, both for hospital photocopying and recordkeeping.
States might be allowed to authorize emergency care facilities to contemporaneously debit SNAP cards for EMTALA incidents.
Items handed over may be retained by the emergency care facility until retrieved within one month by the responsible party by paying $100, or more, for the care, plus a retrieval fee not exceeding $20 in a manner the facility accepts. Items not timely retrieved may be disposed of in a legally allowable manner.
NOTE: People can get the care they need, but only by paying $100, forfeiting an expensive cellphone, or going through the hassle of replacing a SNAP card or government picture ID.
HOSPITAL EMTALA COST ASSISTANCE
I would allow hospitals collect up to $1,000 per incident of EMTALA service from patient related employers, with payment not in excess of $50 per week per employee concerned being due to any and all EMTALA providers and not for more than 100 weeks after service. Such payments on behalf of an employee would be considered to be a debt of the employee to the employer. Employers could collect back from employees and ex-employees (and require EMTALA incident employees to participate in an employer plan).
Have you tried getting non-employer group insurance for your family?
If you don’t quit your job and go on welfare, the cost is prohibitive.
Not extending the subsidies is going to devastate the middle class, especially self employed and small business owners. IOW the MAGA base.
That means the Dems take over everything in November. Trump gets impeached and no conservative judges will ever be confirmed again.
There is a point where standing on principle is a suicide pact.
They’ve been bribed. I’d form a small team of personnel from the FBI and IRS to investigate these bastards.
Maybe they are realists.
Why? So they can be replaced by communists?
For health care, bring on market force:
1. Break most hospitals into two highly competitive entities
2. Convert other hospitals into real estate leasing entities with competing surgical suites and nursing wings
3. Separate out drug coverage so hospital systems can run care coverage systems and cut out insurance company overhead and meddlers.
4. Create interstate drug plans that don’t have to cover every drug. To qualify for exchange listing and federal subsidies, they would have to most (~80% or more) in all important types (large volume recombinant, small volume recombinant, breakthroughs under patent, etc.). Group and exchange plans to offer vouchers at plan set amounts for out-of-formulary drugs. Plans without minimums (or vouchers) could be vended directly to individuals and families.
5. These plans would be all the doctors (and AI) prescribe for formulary drugs with co-pays equal to manufacturing cost
6. reform medical education, breaking down medicine and dentistry into simpler chunks and start it in the first year of college
7. replace most primary care doctoring with AI
(Insurers would pay human doctors to confirm AI diagnosis, orders for expensive tests[MRI, genetic], prescribe radiation imaging[CT, PET, X-ray]/treatment, and voucher/government co-pay drugs. Other human doctor care would be private pay.)
8. Radioisotope-related care would be at international airport centers
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.