House Republicans scramble on healthcare as Obamacare credits expiration looms

House Republicans are scrambling to find a solution to skyrocketing health costs over time over Obamacare tax credits that were boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

House GOP leaders have been busy working with different factions within their conference this week to draft the outlines of a package aimed at lowering health care costs for Americans, but it’s not clear whether there’s consensus yet on legislation that could gain the support of all 220 Republican lawmakers — and those in the Senate.

speaker Mike JohnsonR-LA said Bloomberg News On Thursday, the House of Representatives will vote on the health care plan by the end of this month.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., was less confident about a specific timeline, but told reporters: “We’re meeting with all our caucuses and building a coalition. So when we’re ready to go, we’ll do that.”

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Rep. Gene Keegans is helping lead a bipartisan group discussing a reformed extension of Obamacare’s enhanced subsidies, but conservatives like Rep. Chip Roy oppose expanding the system. (Alex Wong/Getty Images; Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

“But the focus was always, you know, on bills that would lower costs and give families options to help them, so they wouldn’t be trapped in an unaffordable welfare law,” Scalise said.

He was referring to the era of the Obama administration Affordable Care Act (ACA)known colloquially as Obamacare. Republicans have long criticized it as a broken system that drives up inflationary health insurance premium costs, but finding a solution acceptable to both Americans and officials in Washington has long eluded the GOP.

Congressional Democrats voted twice to expand Obamacare during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in order to get more health care coverage to Americans. That expansion is scheduled to expire by the end of 2025, and Democrats claim it will push Americans’ health care costs to sky-high levels if the enhanced subsidies are allowed to expire.

This has also been a concern for a handful of Republicans, many of whom represent battleground districts that played a crucial role in the GOP winning and maintaining the House majority.

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Multiple bipartisan initiatives have been unveiled in recent weeks aimed at preventing the health care cliff from coming. Reps. Tom Suozzi, Democrat of New York, and Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican of Pennsylvania, plan to pass legislation expanding enhanced Obamacare subsidies for two years, albeit with reforms aimed at simplifying the system for those who need it most.

Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital that the legislation could come as soon as Thursday.

Meanwhile, a group of 20 Democrats and 15 Republicans led by Reps. Gene Keegans, R-Va., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., released a framework Thursday morning that would expand a version of enhanced Obamacare benefits for a year, followed by a revised health plan the following year that includes “continued health insurance premium savings” with “more significant reforms.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Los Angeles, exits the chamber to speak with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, November 12, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

The extension would overhaul the system with new “guardrails” aimed at rooting out fraudulent actors and inactive registrants, along with new income requirements to qualify.

“It proposes both a short-term and a long-term solution. But the bottom line is that in a few days, for millions and millions of Americans, their health insurance premiums will rise dramatically,” Gottheimer told reporters.

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“Extending support for the Affordable Care Act with reforms is something we all agree is essential, and then having a longer-term discussion about how to actually fix health care costs in America,” said Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, part of that group.

Keegans told Fox News Digital in a brief interview that allowing the enhanced support to expire would increase costs for millions of Americans who Republicans have tried to help make life more affordable for the president. Donald Trump Big, beautiful bill.

She said she understands and agrees with the need to phase out tax programs in the age of COVID-19, but added, “We are facing a deadline with this program, and unfortunately, if we allow premium tax credits to expire, we will see thousands of dollars in increases.”

But conservatives within the House GOP have expressed strong opposition to extending Obamacare’s enhanced subsidies, arguing that it will do little to reduce health care costs.

Rep. Mike Lawler leaves after a House Republican Conference meeting in Washington, March 4, 2025. (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)

“I don’t know why Republicans, or people who consider themselves conservative, would give tacit approval and support for Obamacare by expanding support for Obamacare,” House Budget Committee Chairman Jody Arrington, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “I don’t know why they would give an implicit agreement that somehow, by expanding these subsidies, the COVID-era subsidies, they will make health care more affordable.”

Arrington said he could see bipartisan ways to make aspects of Obamacare itself work better, but noted he is against extending enhanced support even with reforms.

“I see absolutely no point in expanding in any way. No matter how much lipstick you put on that pig, it’s still a pig. And you need a completely different animal if you want to get the cost down,” he said.

“If they really wanted to build a coalition with Republicans, they would come to us and pitch us their ideas first. I haven’t seen that,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who spoke with Fox News Digital the night before the two-party unveiling.

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“Let’s remember that these were Biden’s coronavirus-era relief and that no Republican voted for them. And no Republican voted for any other relief. So any Republican attempt To do a deal that starts with this is to start at the wrong end. “Start with health care freedom,” Roy said.

Rep. Jody Arrington speaks at a news conference after the House narrowly passed a bill to restore President Donald Trump’s agenda at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, May 22, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

However, there are ways for Republicans in favor of extending Obamacare’s enhanced subsidies to force a vote to do so without the support of their leaders.

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One method is called a petition for exemption, which would force consideration of certain legislation if it received support from a House majority.

But both Keegans and Fitzpatrick seemed hesitant when asked about the possibility.

Fitzpatrick did not answer directly when asked about such a move. Meanwhile, Keegans said, “This is not the direction we’re trying to go in.”

“I think Mike Johnson just said today that we’re going to do something, so, you know, hopefully we’ll be able to convince leadership of the urgency of addressing these matters next week,” she said.