MONTGOMERY — An upcoming vote on extending the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, subsidies pushed by Democrats doesn’t address problems with the program, according to U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery).
A recent deal struck between Senate Republicans and some Democrats included allowing Democrats to hold a vote in December on extending Obamacare subsidies in exchange for enough Democrats joining Republicans to vote to reopen the federal government. Most Republicans oppose extending the subsidies without at least some changes to the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Britt told attendees of a Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Monday that just extending the subsidies “doesn’t deal with any of the issues that are in front of us on that.”
“In addition to that, obviously, there's been a lot of conversation about ACA. The leader told the Democratic leader that they would give them a vote on ACA extensions,” Britt said. “I think, you know, it'll be interesting to see whether they put their own proposal of a clean or what they call a clean extension for one year, or if they put a proposal that they feel like can actually get 60 votes. Look, I think everybody understands what's at stake here. The question is, if a proposal of just a one-year extension doesn't deal with any of the issues that are in front of us on that. There's no income cap to anyone who receives those subsidies.”
Britt continued, “There is no carving out of the fraud that we've seen in that, and unfortunately in Alabama, in 2024, Alabama was one of the nine states where the number of ACA signups exceeded the number of people that were eligible enrollees, and in addition to that, I think they reported more than like 66,000 people in Alabama that you know, didn't actually qualify for it, that were utilized.”
Britt also mentioned that any extension would have to include the Hyde Amendment, a federal policy that prohibits federal funds from being used for most abortions, to get Republican votes.
“So there's a lot of stuff that's going on in there that will certainly have to work through. It also does not contain the Hyde Amendment. So there's no way that there would be any Republican votes even for a year…that you would get that,” Britt said. “So there's just a number of things, I think, that people feel like, even if there were a one-year extension that would need to be done. So it'll be interesting to see how the Democrats move this forward if they just say we want a one-year extension, not capping the income, not doing any of these things, or if they try to find a pathway forward. So that is to be determined, but that vote will be in December.”
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