Senate Republicans unveil plan to replace Obamacare subsidies with health savings accounts
Senate Republicans appear to be closing in on a plan to counter Senate Democrats’ proposal to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies as a vote on credits at the end of the...
By Fox News · Fox News
Senate Republicans appear to be closing in on a plan to counter Senate Democrats’ proposal to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies as a vote on credits at the end of the week draws closer. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, unveiled their proposal to tackle the Obamacare issue that would abandon the subsidies for Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSAs). The lawmakers have been leading Senate Republicans’ planning for a counter-proposal to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats’ legislation, which would extend the Biden-era subsidies for three years. COLLINS, MORENO UNVEIL OBAMACARE PLAN AS REPUBLICANS SEARCH FOR SOLUTION TO EXPIRING SUBSIDIES Cassidy and Crapo pitched the legislation as "an alternative to Democrats’ temporary COVID bonuses, which send billions of tax dollars to giant insurance companies without lowering insurance premiums." The long-awaited proposal would funnel the subsidy money directly to HSAs rather than to insurance companies, an idea that has the backing of President Donald Trump and is largely popular among Senate Republicans. "Instead of 100% of this money going to insurance companies, let’s give it to patients. By giving them an account that they control, we give them the power," Cassidy said in a statement. "We make health care affordable again." Crapo contended that the legislation would build off of Trump’s marquee legislative package, the "big beautiful bill," from earlier this year and would "help Americans manage the rising cost of health care without driving costs even higher." "Giving billions of taxpayer dollars to insurers is not working to reduce health insurance premiums for patients," he said in a statement. SENATE DEMOCRATS PUSH OBAMACARE SUBSIDY VOTE 'DESIGNED TO FAIL' AS REPUBLICANS CALL PLAN UNSERIOUS Whether the bill gets a vote in the upper chamber this week remains in the air, given the growing number of O…