Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters on Tuesday that Republican leaders are open to addressing the expiration of health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, but that those talks will happen later this year.
He argued that the Sept. 30 short-term government funding measure needs to be kept “clean” of controversial policy riders.
Thune acknowledged that there’s growing support among Republicans in both the Senate and House to prevent the expanded health insurance subsidies from expiring at the end of this year, something that would cause millions of Americans to see substantial increases to their health care premiums.
But Thune argued the issue needs to be negotiated as part of the end-of-year appropriations process and not tacked on to the 45-day continuing resolution the House hopes to pass this week.
“I think the ACA subsidies will be an issue that will be addressed but I think right now we’ve got to keep the government open so we can do appropriations bills and work on that, with that solution,” he told reporters.
“I don’t think it’s going to be close to ready to go by the shutdown of the government, which would happen Sept. 30,” he said of a bipartisan deal to extend the health care subsidies.
“I think we’ve got a path right now to keep the government open, to continue to work on appropriations bills and to have conversations about that subject,” he said.
Thune said he’s offering Democrats the clean continuing resolution that historically has been the benchmark for keeping the government funding.
He said he would “be happy to sit down” with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), but he emphasized that the Democratic leader needs to come up with a good “reason” for a face-to-face conversation.
Thune said that he’s delegated negotiations over the details of the government funding bill to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) and House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.).
“Schumer knows where my office is,” Thune told reporters. “We want to pass a clean CR, he should be for that. Right? He’s been for it in the past. And the appropriators are working on it.”
Democrats, however, have demanded that health care be addressed in any spending bill.
“Our position remains this: We want to keep the government open by engaging in bipartisan negotiations where we can address some of the grave harm Donald Trump has caused to our health care system and help Americans with the cost of living,” Schumer said in his floor remarks Monday. “We haven’t seen that to date.”
The GOP leader said he may keep the Senate in session on Friday to begin processing a 45-day government funding bill if it passes the House later in the week.
