House GOP Leadership Health Bill
The House GOP Leadership is trying to present a hastily cobbled together health bill to defuse potential mid-term voters’ outrage over their refusal to extend enhanced premium assistance for 24 million Exchange subscribers. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5646973-house-gop-health-care-bill-obamacare/
“The GOP proposal would instead seek to expand the availability of association health plans, which allow employers to band together to purchase coverage, and fund a cost-sharing reduction program meant to lower premiums for certain Affordable Care Act enrollees. It would also impose new transparency requirements on pharmacy benefit managers in a bid to lower drug costs.” https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/12/politics/house-gop-health-care-plan-obamacare-subsidies
The House Leadership plans to allow a floor vote on a proposed amendment by GOP moderates to extend enhanced premium assistance, which is excluded from their bill. The bill does not include Trump’s suggestion to fund Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for Exchange subscribers.
The entire package is expected to fail but seeks to give the House GOP members cover and talking points to counteract the widespread voter outrage about funding large tax cuts for billionaires while eliminating the enhanced tax credits to lower premiums for low, moderate and middle income subscribers in the Exchanges.