House GOP Readies Health-Care Bill For Early Next Week; Fate Of ACA Subsidies Unclear

House Republican Leaders Finalize Health-Care Bill Ahead Of Year-End

House Republican leaders are finalizing a GOP-only health-care bill they plan to unveil early next week, with the goal of bringing the measure to the House floor before the end of the year. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said leadership has been briefing members this week and will continue through the weekend.

Johnson declined to provide details about the proposal, and it remains unclear whether the legislation will include an extension of the Affordable Care Act's enhanced subsidies — a priority for moderates. If Congress does not act, those enhanced subsidies are scheduled to expire at year-end, a move that officials warn would cause monthly premiums for tens of millions of Americans to rise.

Dozens of moderate Republicans have worked with Democrats to propose competing plans focused on a temporary continuation of enhanced subsidies paired with reforms intended to address conservative concerns. Many other Republicans oppose a straight subsidy extension, calling those pandemic-era increases a relic and arguing the moment should be used to revisit broader efforts to overhaul Obamacare.

"From the very beginning, we've said we'll address this before the end of the year. There will be big developments early next week," Johnson told reporters.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) declined to say directly whether the bill would extend enhanced subsidies for any length of time, saying leaders are focused on lowering costs and expanding options so families are not "forced to have to stay in an 'Unaffordable Care Act' plan." He also pushed back on a bipartisan framework for a temporary subsidy extension unveiled earlier by Reps. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), saying that specific framework "was not part of the package we're discussing." Scalise said leadership is attempting to combine members' ideas into a plan that could win broader support.

The Kiggans–Gottheimer framework is backed by a bipartisan group of more than 30 House members, including at least a dozen Republicans. Separately, Senate Democrats say they plan to vote next week on a clean three-year extension of the enhanced subsidies — a proposal unlikely to attract significant Republican support.

What Happens Next: House GOP leadership intends to release the party's package early next week and hopes to move quickly to floor consideration before December 31. The upcoming developments will determine whether enhanced ACA subsidies continue, are replaced with an alternative approach, or expire as scheduled.