Senate Votes Down Health Care Subsidies, Baldwin Says Prices Will Skyrocket
Both Democratic and Republican health care bills failed to advance.
Hospital waiting area. (Public Domain)
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said extending federal tax credits used to lower the cost of marketplace health insurance plans is the “only workable solution” to keep premiums affordable for Wisconsinites.
The U.S. Senate voted down two competing health care bills Thursday as current subsidies for the Affordable Care Act are set to expire at the end of the month.
The bill favored by Baldwin and fellow Democrats would have extended the tax credits for three years. Speaking to WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” on Thursday before the vote, Baldwin said continuing the subsidies in the short term would keep insurance costs from skyrocketing next year while leaving the door open for Congress to address problems in the health care system.
She said some Wisconsinites have seen the premiums for their marketplace plans double or even quadruple for 2026, which she worries will cause some people to forego insurance next year.
“We are in a time of great urgency, and really the only workable solution right now is to extend these tax breaks so that working families can afford their premiums,” Baldwin told “Wisconsin Today.”
Baldwin said the health care system is in “significant trouble” and needs reform in multiple areas, including pharmaceutical costs. But she called Republicans’ focus on ending the ACA and the tax credits “short-sighted.”
Senate Republicans supported a bill that would have provided up to $1,500 a year through a health savings account for people earning less than 700 percent of the federal poverty level. The legislation did not extend the ACA tax credits and the money could not be used to pay for health care premiums.
Both bills needed 60 votes to advance in the Senate, and both fell short.
Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said in a post on X that using health savings accounts will help support “free-market competition and real consumer choice” by bringing more awareness to the actual cost of health care.
Johnson wrote on social media that the current marketplace and tax credit system offers no incentive for health insurance companies to lower costs. He said “doubling down” on the Affordable Care Act by extending the tax credits won’t fix the larger problem with the health care system.
Other Wisconsin Republicans in Congress have indicated they would not support extending the subsidies.
U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, told WISN 12 that he wants to see additional spending cuts before more money is put into the ACA tax credits.
“It’s very expensive,” Grothman said during the interview Sunday. “You’ve got to remember, the Democrat plan was another $34 billion a year, and already the government is borrowing 26 percent of our budget. So if they want to put more money in there, let’s have some cuts in some other places in the budget.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee said in an interview with Spectrum News last week that health savings accounts would do little to help people manage the high cost of health care.
“Those HSAs, it can’t pay for premiums. And even if it could pay for premiums, it wouldn’t cover one month, two months of premiums for most people,” Moore told Spectrum News.
Moore said she believes there is Republican support in the House to extend the tax credits, but she claimed GOP lawmakers are hesitant to disagree with President Donald Trump.
As US Senate votes down ACA subsidy extension, Baldwin says premiums will skyrocket was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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