CINCINNATI — Competing bills to address the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies failed in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, leaving millions of Americans who purchase their health insurance on the ACA marketplace uncertain about what comes next as they face the prospect of higher payments.
The two proposals, one led by Democrats and the other by Republicans, both failed to receive the 60 votes needed to advance. The Democrat-led plan looked to extend ACA subsidies for three years, while the Republican-led plan looked at healthcare funding alternatives, allowing the tax credits to expire.
The subsidies were a major sticking point in the 43-day government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, which ended, in part, after Democrats negotiated a future vote on the extension.
WATCH: How ACA enrollees in the Tri-State are grappling with the prospect of higher monthly premiums in 2026
The pandemic-era tax credits are set to expire on Dec. 31, leaving enrollees like Cheryl Brun to pay steeper monthly premiums starting in 2026.
"I am definitely worried. Because the cost of everything is going up," Brun said. "(I'm) very anxious and concerned about my health, my health care, my well-being and my pocketbook."
Brun, who said her current premium is around $300 per month, is looking at a new monthly premium of about $1,000 in 2026 without the tax subsidies.
"That's $12,000 a year, and that's a huge chunk of income," she said. "People need help, and people need to know that their health care is secure and that they can feel confident going to the doctor, going to the hospital when there's a need."
A stroke and cancer survivor with other health conditions, Brun said regular medical expenses are a reality for her.
"It's our lives. It's who we are, and we need this, you know, to survive," Brun said. "Not (extending ACA subsidies) is going to kill people. It's essentially going to cause people to die."
Tara Collins is another ACA enrollee who's anxious about the impact expiring subsidies will have on the affordability of her healthcare plan.
"Essentially, I'm having to seek more medical care, get more medications than I have previously," Collins said. "So, having health insurance has been crucial, and the fact that these subsidies have created a system for affordable health care was pretty crucial for me, honestly."
For Collins, diagnosed with Celiac Disease, an autoimmune disorder, monthly premiums are set to rise by nearly $200 in 2026.
Some lawmakers who are opposed to extending the tax credits criticized the Affordable Care Act system and said it needs to be reformed.
"Just throwing more money, trillions of dollars in a broken system that everybody says is broken to me is not a solution," Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee) said.
"Obamacare is not sustainable under its current format, and the extension of these subsidies, which are important to members like me, does have some flaws that they just extend the status quo," Rep. Nick LaLota (R-New York) said. "Anything we do has to have some long-term reforms to actually change the structure of the system to make healthcare more affordable and more accessible for constituents like mine."
Ohio's Republican Sen. John Husted introduced his own healthcare proposal on Wednesday, but it was blocked from receiving a vote on the Senate floor. The bill looked to extend the ACA tax credits for two years while instituting new restrictions to reduce fraud, Husted said.
"What I said to the Democrats (Wednesday) is, 'I'll make a compromise with you. I'll extend it for two years. You give me the accountability that I need to make sure that we don't have fraud, and let's do this together,'" Husted told WCPO 9. "And they said, 'No.' They blocked it on the floor of the Senate (Wednesday). I was really frustrated by that, because I thought I had a really great bipartisan compromise."
ABC News reports a growing number of House Republicans are trying to force a vote on extending the subsidies as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) eyes a vote on a separate healthcare package sometime next week.
