Wisconsin Senator Engages in Bipartisan Talks on Health Insurance Assistance
In a surprising move, Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson has initiated discussions with Democrats to address the loss of health insurance tax credits that ended last year. Despite his long-standing opposition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Johnson is exploring options to aid those affected by the expiration of these credits.
Johnson, a vocal critic of the ACA since his election in 2010, attributes rising healthcare costs to the law. The ACA’s federal marketplace enables individuals to compare and purchase health insurance plans, with tax credits available based on income. Enhanced subsidies introduced in 2021 increased these credits and extended them to higher-income earners for the first time.
The push to extend these enhanced subsidies has been a contentious issue, contributing to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Recently, a bill proposing the extension gained support from 17 Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, but was ultimately blocked in the Senate.
In a discussion with PBS Wisconsin’s “Here & Now,” Johnson expressed skepticism about the possibility of extending all subsidies. “What I’ve been told is there are enough Democrats who will cosponsor that. But right now, I think they’re still holding out hope that they can extend all the subsidies,” Johnson remarked. “I just believe that’s dead on arrival here in the Senate. We voted that down multiple times during the shutdown. That’s just not going to happen.”
Instead, Johnson is considering a focused approach that would benefit individuals earning more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level, who lost subsidies when the enhanced credits expired. “Some of these folks close to retirement are facing premiums of … $38,000 a year,” he explained. “So I’d like to help them.”
Johnson is reluctant to reinstate enhanced subsidies for lower-income individuals who already receive original ACA tax credits. For reference, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that 400 percent of the federal poverty level equates to an annual income of $84,600 for a family of two in 2025.
Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin is open to potential compromises, stating, “I believe that there is a lot of room for negotiation on the extension of the Affordable Care Act, tax credits.” Baldwin highlighted a constituent who spends 40 percent of their income on health premiums, suggesting the need for an income cap on insurance costs. “There is no reason in my mind that we can’t have reasonable income cap or to have a provision that says that you can’t be expected to pay more than a certain percentage of your income on health care,” she stated.
The expiration of enhanced credits appears to have impacted enrollment figures, with approximately 800,000 fewer individuals enrolling nationally compared to the previous year. In Wisconsin, enrollment decreased by about 17,000.
Baldwin, while willing to collaborate with Republicans, criticized the decision to block the ACA credits’ full restoration. “We had a moment in the Senate to take up the bill that was passed in the House of Representatives that would have extended the tax credits for three years,” she noted. “And my Republican colleagues blocked it.”
