‘Both sides are wrong’: Longtime Obamacare critic says GOP is mistaken in shutdown struggle
In the view of Avik Roy — one of the first and most vocal critics of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare — Republicans and Democrats alike...
By Fox News · Fox News
In the view of Avik Roy — one of the first and most vocal critics of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare — Republicans and Democrats alike have missed the mark in the healthcare debate that has dragged the government into a 24-day shutdown. "Both sides are wrong," Avik said. "I’m sympathetic to the Republican view, but it’s a strategic mistake." The way Roy sees things, Republican wariness over renewing expanded government subsidies should be directed at the bigger problem behind them. "The subsidies aren’t inherently the problem," Roy said. "If you want low-income people who are near the poverty line to have insurance, you’re going to have to subsidize. Subsidies have been a part of Republican [healthcare] plans and Democratic plans. I would argue that the approach to subsidies that Obamacare used was actually pretty reasonable." That doesn’t mean he believes the government’s current healthcare trajectory is sustainable, either. FLASHBACK: TED CRUZ PREDICTS BALLOONING OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES NOW AT CENTER OF SHUTDOWN FIGHT The federal government entered a 24-day shutdown at the beginning of October when lawmakers failed to come to an agreement over spending legislation to begin the new fiscal year. Republicans advanced a short-term spending bill that would have bought more time for lawmakers to finalize funding for 2026. But Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have shot down that measure repeatedly, demanding that Congress first address expiring COVID-era insurance subsidies. As a part of its American Rescue Plan, the Biden administration greatly widened the pool of eligible applicants who could receive a federal subsidy to help pay for their Obamacare health insurance. In its original form, Obamacare capped subsidies for anyone making over 400% of the federal poverty level. But that changed in 2021 when, as an emergency response to COVID-19, Congress temporarily removed…