House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) argued Monday the end-of-year deadline to extend subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act is an “eternity” away.
“We have effectively three months to negotiate. In the White House and in the halls of Congress, that’s like an eternity,” Johnson told MSNBC’s Ali Vitali.
The subsidies, which were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and extended through the end of this year by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, expire at the end of December. But open enrollment in most states begins on Nov. 1, and insurers could increase premiums if they anticipate the subsidies will expire.
That could lead to some consumers dropping their health care coverage, even if Congress agrees to extend the premiums after open enrollment starts.
As part of negotiations to avert, and now end, the government shutdown, Democrats have pushed for a permanent extension of the subsidies. The Democratic-backed bill, which was voted down by all 53 Republicans in the Senate last week, would have kept the government funded through October, permanently extended the tax credits and restored nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts enacted through the GOP-backed budget law signed by President Trump in July.
Johnson, though, said his priority is to “keep the lights on the buildings” before negotiating with Democrats over the ACA subsidies.
On Sept. 19, the House passed what the speaker called a “clean” funding bill, which would have kept the government open through Nov. 21. The stopgap funding bill has been repeatedly rejected by the vast majority of Senate Democrats, however.
“We need folks in good faith to come around the table and have that discussion,” Johnson added. “And we can’t do it when the government is shut down.”
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Commiteee on Taxation estimated last month that permanently extending the subsidies would increase those insured by 3.6 million in 2030 and 3.8 million in 2035. Premiums for 2026 would also be 2.4 percent lower than “baseline projections” if the subsidies are extended.
Permanently extending the tax credits would boost the federal budget deficit by $349.8 billion over the next decade, the analysis added. This year so far, the federal government has spent $1.97 trillion more than it has taken in, according to the U.S. Treasury.
