The Senate is fast running out of time to hammer out a bipartisan deal to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is still prepared to hold a vote on a proposal next week. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Lawmakers are now set to vote on Senate Democrats’ plan, which would extend the subsidies for another three years. That proposal is also expected to fail, given that Senate Republicans broadly don’t want to extend the subsidies without myriad reforms.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats have pitched their plan as the only option to prevent healthcare premiums from skyrocketing, while Republicans contended that the subsidies are rife with fraud and that the entire Obamacare system was causing premium prices to crank up year after year.
"The Cassidy-Crapo [plan] is not a healthcare plan," Schumer said. "It's not a plan at all. It's an excuse. It's a fig leaf. Because Republicans are so divided and can't come up with a plan that unites them. They propose this fig leaf."
"My guess is most Republicans themselves are grimacing that they even have to vote for this thing," he continued. "How is a one-time check going to help you if you're paying 1,000 or $2,000 a month more for health insurance?"
DUELING OBAMACARE PLANS SET TO FAIL AS DEADLINE NEARS, PUSHING SENATE TOWARD BIPARTISAN TALKS
Senate Republicans’ plan from Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the chairs of the Senate health and finance panels, would have abandoned the Obamacare enhanced premium subsidies for health savings accounts (HSAs). (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The deadline to either extend or replace the credits, which were first passed and then enhanced under former President Joe Biden during the COVID-19 pandemic, is at the end of the year.
But whether the Senate acts before the deadline remains in the air, given that next week will be their last working week before leaving Washington, D.C., until the new year. There are several plans still on the table for lawmakers to choose from.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said ahead of the vote that it was clear that Schumer wanted Senate Democrats to fall in line for the upcoming vote but noted that there were still ongoing bipartisan conversations, and he didn’t close the door a possible Obamacare fix with the limited time lawmakers had left before the clock runs out.
"If there is an interest in solving that, I don't rule it out," Thune said. "I mean, obviously we don't have a lot of time to do this, but I think there are ways in which you could where there's a will, and if there are two sides willing to come together."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-dems-block-republicans-hsa-plan-obamacare-deadline-nears