A handful of moderate Senate Democrats, as well as independent Angus King of Maine, negotiated a funding deal with their GOP colleagues that would ensure back pay to the furloughed federal workers and give the thousands of workers fired during the shutdown their jobs back, including 950 employees in the Department of Health and Human Services.
But it did not include the main priority Democrats had demanded since the start of the shutdown: an extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced subsidies. Instead, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) promised a vote in December.
“Congress now has one month to engage in serious, bipartisan negotiations to extend the Affordable Care Act’s expiring tax cuts for health insurance,” Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said in a statement.
The stunning development Sunday night infuriated liberals in and out of Congress, who had cheered Democrats throughout and urged them to keep up the fight for the sake of preventing health care costs from skyrocketing at the beginning of next year.
Democrats can argue they will put Republicans on record as voting against a subsidy extension. Any blame for the looming rise in health care costs should fall solely on Republicans who oppose virtually all elements of ObamaCare. Many Republicans said they wanted the subsidies to expire and gave no indication they would ever support an extension.
Even President Trump said he didn’t think the subsidies should be extended, and instead that money should be sent directly to consumers.
The continuing resolution does contain some health extenders. It would allocate funding for community health centers through the end of January and temporarily extend coverage for Medicare services provided through telehealth.
