Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is working with a cohort of Senate Democrats and Republicans to develop a plan to tackle expiring Obamacare subsidies. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Still, some in Congress haven’t given up on the issue.
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, held bipartisan confabs last week as lawmakers readied to leave Washington, D.C., to hash out a framework for an Obamacare fix that could meet the desires of both sides of the aisle.
There are several political landmines that the group will have to overcome, like Democrats’ demands for a relatively clean, multi-year extension of the subsidies and Republicans' desires to add income caps and anti-fraud measures.
"We have some momentum to enact a bipartisan bill that includes reforms," Collins said. "As you know, Senator Moreno and I convened an ideologically diverse group of both Democratic and Republican senators who met for nearly two hours on Monday night, and we're now working on drafting a specific bill to incorporate those conversations that will include reforms as well as the two-year extension."
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Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., leaves a Senate Democratic meeting at the U.S. Capitol Building on Oct. 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Lawmakers see it as changing the dynamic of negotiations in the Senate, but whether it ever makes it to a vote in the upper chamber is an open question.
"Well, we'll see," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said. "We’ll obviously cross that bridge when we come to it."
Some Republicans in the upper chamber see the momentum building in the House as a pressure point on them that could further drive the conversation around the subsidies and, more broadly, healthcare.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said, "It will apply pressure on us, which isn’t a bad thing."
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"I'm ready to start talking about healthcare at any time," Kennedy said. "I just don't, I mean, I'm a pragmatist. I live in the real world, and I just don't see a lot of appetite to make reforms. I just don't — I see the vast majority of my Democratic colleagues just want an extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies."
And Senate Democrats welcome the development, given that the House’s plan mirrors their own, three-year extension of the subsidies, which already failed in the upper chamber earlier this month.
"Well, it seems to me the basic proposition is, is it progress or not? And I think it is, because what we have felt all along is the only timely tool is the tax credits," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-quietly-works-bipartisan-obamacare-fix-healthcare-cliff-nears