Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno attends the CNBC CFO Council Summit 2024 in Washington, D.C.
Brian StokesCNBC
The House is expected to move forward on Thursday with a three-year extension of Obamacare subsidies, sending the bill to the Senate where it faces a hurdle.
The Affordable Care Act’s enhanced tax credits were a major factor in last fall’s longest government shutdown in history. It expires at the end of 2025, raising premiums for millions of Americans who buy health insurance through the ACA Marketplaces.
The Senate rejected a similar three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits in December, and lawmakers predict a similar fate if the proposal comes to the floor again.
“What the House is going to pass tomorrow will not pass in the Senate,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), a member of the bipartisan Senate task force negotiating the ACA tax credit agreement, told reporters Wednesday. “It probably won’t be on the floor, because why waste time on the floor on something you’ve already considered?”
Moreno, speaking on the Hill, said the House bill is useful because it serves as an amendment vehicle for the Senate task force. Moreno and members of the group, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), said they are close to reaching a deal to extend the tax credit for two years, although some key issues remain.
That includes the Hyde Amendment, a decades-old policy that prohibits the use of federal funds for most abortions, and which many Republicans want to strengthen. President Donald Trump earlier this week told Republicans to be “flexible” regarding Hyde, sparking a backlash from within the party.
“We have no federal funding for abortions,” Moreno said. “It’s a long-standing tradition and no one is trying to change it.”
Thursday’s vote in the full House comes after four moderate Republicans broke party lines and signed a Democratic-led expulsion petition late last year to force a vote on ACA aid.
A removal petition is a procedural tool that allows House members to bypass leadership and force a floor vote if signed by a majority of members.
The discharge petition, filed by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), cleared a procedural hurdle Wednesday when all Democrats and nine Republicans voted in favor of the bill, despite opposition from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
