House plans vote Thursday on extending Obamacare help three more years
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- House moves to extend ACA premium tax credits three years; House vote 221-205.
- Senate outlook uncertain as leaders demand subsidy reforms and income limits.
- Senate fate uncertain as leaders demand subsidy reforms and income limits
The House is expected Thursday to pass a three-year extension of expired health care subsidies – but the measure’s fate in the Senate is highly uncertain.
A House procedural vote clearing the way for Thursday’s action on extending the credits, which expired December 31, passed Wednesday, 221 to 205.
Nine Republicans, including Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, and 212 Democrats, including all 43 from California, voted yes. Eight California Republicans voted no.
Among the no votes was Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, who has been a strong advocate for extending the credits by one or two years. He could not be reached for comment before deadline.
The extension is in some ways a rare rebuke to House Republican leaders, who resisted for months continuing the credits available to 1.8 million Californians, and 22 million people nationwide, since 2021.
The credits are available to people who bought health care policies in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
Premiums go up
Covered California, which runs the state ACA marketplace, has estimated the average premium will nearly double this year if the credits are not applied. The exact amount of the benefit depends on the recipient.
In the Sacramento area, a family of four, with each parent aged 40-years old, children ages 8 and 11 and a $100,000 annual income, last year paid $543 a month for a “silver plan.” This year, they could pay $721 without the credits.
Silver plans are a middle-tier option that the ACA marketplaces offer for qualifying consumers.
If the credits continue, lawmakers are talking about a new open enrollment period where people could sign up for different plans.
“There is still time for Congress to act and extend the enhanced premium tax credits and keep health care coverage affordable for millions of working-class Americans,” Covered California’s executive director Jessica Altman said Wednesday.
“We here in California and the other state-based marketplaces stand ready to implement any changes that make health care more attainable for consumers in 2026,” she said.
Will the Senate act?
The Senate rejected a three-year extension last month, but serious bipartisan talks are underway in hopes of finding a compromise soon, reportedly early next week.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters any deal would have to include reforms in the subsidy system.
“You’d have to deal with the income limits,” he said. Currently, there are no limits for the enhanced subsidies.
Also, he said, a compromise would have to “make sure that everybody at least is paying something for coverage so that the insurance companies can’t game it and auto enroll people and then have the money flow directly to them.” And he suggested some way of expanding health savings accounts.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., didn’t appear optimistic.
“From all their actions, they’re totally partisan. None of them say extend the credits,” he said of Republican leaders. “Thune and Johnson are against extending them for a day, let alone a week, a month, a year, which is what’s going to bring the health care costs down.”
The best thing Republicans can do, Schumer said, is to have the House pass the three-year extension, “send it over here, let Thune put it on the floor and let’s pass it.”
While Washington deliberates, Covered California has advised consumers to seek lower-tiered plans if they find the premium payment for a higher-level plan tough to afford.
This story was originally published January 7, 2026 at 4:43 PM with the headline "House plans vote Thursday on extending Obamacare help three more years."
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