At the center of shutdown fight, health care is one of the most intractable issues in Congress

[umbertino]

 

By  MARY CLARE JALONICK, LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING

Updated 5:48 PM CEST, October 7, 2025

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats believe health care is an issue that resonates with a majority of Americans as they demand an extension of subsidies for their votes to reopen the shuttered U.S. government. But it is also one of the most intractable issues in Congress — and a real compromise is unlikely to be easy, or quick.

 

There are some Republicans in Congress who want to extend the higher subsidies, which were first put in place in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as millions of people who receive their insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces are set to receive notices that their premiums will increase at the beginning of the year. But many GOP lawmakers are strongly opposed to any extension — and see the debate as a new opportunity to cut back on the program altogether.

 

“If Republicans govern by poll and fail to grab this moment, they will own it,” wrote Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican, in a letter published in the The Wall Street Journal over the weekend. He encouraged senators not to go “wobbly” on the issue.

 

“The jig is up, the pandemic is over and my colleagues shouldn’t blink in any other direction,” Roy wrote.

 

Republicans have been railing against the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, since it was enacted 15 years ago. But while they have been able to chip away at it, they have not been able to substantially alter it as a record 24 million people are now signed up for insurance coverage through the ACA, in large part because billions of dollars in subsidies have made the plans more affordable for many people.

 

Now, some of them see the Democrats’ fight as their chance to revisit the issue — putting Republican congressional leaders and President Donald Trump in a complicated position as the government shutdown enters its seventh day and hundreds of thousands of federal workers are going unpaid.

 

“I am happy to work with Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to reopen,” Trump wrote on social media Monday night, walking back earlier comments saying there were ongoing negotiations with Democrats..............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://apnews.com/article/shutdown-health-care-subsidies-obamacare-congress-10b2ae9648bc5252fc2bd485ddc83493

[Sage449]

Both US & Canada need an overhaul of its medical system including big pharma.