US House Republicans block move for quick vote on health subsidy extension

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) – An expanded U.S. federal healthcare subsidy that grew out of the pandemic looked all but certain to expire on December 31, as Republicans on Wednesday blocked a last-ditch effort by Democrats to maintain it.

By a vote of 204-203, the House voted to stop the last-minute move by Democrats, aided by four Republicans, to force quick votes on a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidy. Democrats loudly protested, accusing Republican leadership of gaveling an end to the vote prematurely while some members were still trying to vote.

“That’s outrageous,” Democratic Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts yelled at Republican leadership.

Some 24 million Americans who buy their health insurance through the ACA program, nicknamed Obamacare, could face sharply higher costs beginning on January 1 without action by Congress.

It was unclear whether Democrats and a small band of cooperative Republicans had any additional maneuvers available to try again to force action on an extension before Congress leaves Washington at the end of this week. House Republican leadership was forging ahead with its own healthcare bill that was due for a vote on passage later on Wednesday.

With a narrow 220-213 majority, House Speaker Mike Johnson has had a challenging time keeping his caucus in line, and has repeatedly seen members use the maneuver Democrats were attempting, known as a “discharge petition” to try to bypass him.

Twenty-six House members had not yet voted – and some were actively trying to do so – when the House Republican leadership gaveled the vote closed on Wednesday. It is rare but not unprecedented for House leadership to cut a contested vote short.

The Senate, also controlled by President Donald Trump’s Republicans, last week rejected dueling Republican and Democratic plans to address the subsidies.

SUBSIDIES CAUSE OF RECORD GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Tensions are high over the expiring ACA subsidies, which were the cause of the record-breaking government shutdown earlier this fall.

After Wednesday’s vote, Republican leadership corralled the members on the House floor into animated conversations with finger-pointing. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise leaned over Representative Mike Lawler from New York. Johnson tugged on the coat sleeve of Representative Kevin Kiley, a California Republican, to get answers from him as he has been critical of his leadership’s approach to healthcare legislation.

Democratic Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said Democrats were trying to vote before the vote was closed.

“Listen, it’s playing games when people’s lives are at stake,” DeLauro said, “They jettisoned it.”

The House Republican bill aims to lower premiums for some people while reducing overall subsidies and raising premiums for others, starting January 2027. It would also expand access to association health plans, which allow small businesses, freelancers, and self-employed individuals to pool resources and purchase group health insurance at potentially lower costs.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday said the legislation would decrease the number of people with health insurance by an average of 100,000 per year through 2035. Its money-saving provisions would reduce federal deficits by $35.6 billion, the CBO said.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Bo Erickson; editing by Scott Malone, Rod Nickel)