Republicans Are Still Clueless on Health Care
By Will Marshall

No issue seems to befuddle Republicans more than health care. Last week, they failed for the umpteenth time to produce a convincing plan to make health coverage more affordable for working Americans.

The Republican-controlled Senate blocked a Democratic bill to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies for health insurance beefed up during the pandemic to help working families pay their premiums. The Republican alternative also failed to get enough votes to avoid a filibuster.

House Republicans this week likewise rejected bipartisan proposals to scale back and better target the premium subsidies. Instead, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) cobbled together a modest grab bag of proposals that bore scant resemblance to Senate Republicans’ bill.

Even Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a MAGA stalwart, called the Republican bill “milquetoast garbage.” It passed narrowly Wednesday on a party-line vote but is going nowhere because it can’t survive a Senate filibuster.

What’s more, the premium extension for 24 million Americans who buy insurance on Affordable Care Act exchanges — the issue that triggered the 43-day government shutdown — may come back to haunt them. Some moderate House Republicans joined Democrats to line up enough votes to pass a discharge petition, which could force a vote on the extension in late January. 

What then did all this year-end political skirmishing prove? Mainly that Republicans are still the party of “no” on health care. They are vehemently against whatever Democrats propose to tackle spiraling insurance costs, but utterly unable to unify around a plausible alternative.