(The Center Square) – The U.S. House passed the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act in a party line, 216-211, vote Wednesday, sending the bill to its likely demise in the Senate.
The bill, which will almost certainly fail to reach the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, is Republicans’ alternative to extending enhancements to the Obamacare Premium Tax Credit. Congress temporarily expanded the PTC during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its reversion to original pre-pandemic levels will partially contribute to rising premiums in 2026.
“For too long, Democrats have forced hardworking American taxpayers to bail out big health insurance companies for hundreds of billions of dollars. Meanwhile, Americans are left paying for increasingly expensive care with fewer choices, lower quality, and worse health outcomes,” Republican House leadership said in a statement.
“The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act puts patients first,” they continued. “It does exactly what its title promises and more: lowers premium costs, expands access to affordable, quality care, gives every American more options and flexibility to choose coverage that is best for their needs, and brings greater transparency to the health care system.
Key reforms in the bill include increasing oversight and transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers, reforming health reimbursement arrangements, and excluding stop-loss policies from the definition of health insurance coverage.
Most notably, the bill would finally appropriate funding for cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments, as well as loosen restrictions on which employers can form association health plans.
The Congressional Budget Office projects that unlocking CSR payments would lower gross benchmark premiums for all Americans by 11%, though 300,000 people annually could lose their existing health insurance between 2027 and 2035.
The new rules for health association plans, however, would provide insurance to 200,000 people who currently have none. Allowing small business owners and independent workers to band together across industries to form association health plans would increase the total number of people on those plans by an estimated 700,000.
Democrats widely condemned the bill following its passage.
"Instead of extending the ACA credits, Republican leadership pushed a health care scheme that does nothing to fix the very crisis they caused," House Budget Ranking Member Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., said on X. "They are ignoring millions of Americans whose health care premiums are skyrocketing."
The Senate is unlikely to vote on, let alone pass, the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act before lawmakers leave for Christmas break, meaning millions of Americans will see premiums spike in two weeks.
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