The House voted 230-196 to approve legislation to extend expired enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies. The vote comes as bipartisan negotiations in the Senate continued over legislation to revive the enhanced ACA premium tax credits that expired on January 1, with a bipartisan group of senators signaling they are close to an agreement. Negotiators have indicated that draft legislation could be released early next week to restore the subsidies for two years, while adding new guardrails such as income caps and a minimum monthly premium, expanding access to health savings accounts, creating new cost-sharing reduction provisions, and potentially extending the ACA open enrollment period from January 15 to March 1.
As talks advanced, President Trump urged House Republicans to remain flexible on expanding Hyde Amendment restrictions on federal abortion funding to secure Democratic support. However, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) said he does not believe the Senate can muster the 60 votes needed to pass a subsidy extension under regular order and argued Republicans should instead use budget reconciliation to pursue broader health care reforms.