Sen. Dave McCormick would not say whether he’d support extending the health care premium tax credits that Democrats say must happen to secure their votes to end the federal government shutdown.
Without Congress extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies expanded during COVID, more than 150,000 Pennsylvanians stand to lose coverage at the end of the year, according to the commonwealth’s health insurance marketplace. Estimates show most of the 500,000 total customers will also see some level of price hike.
McCormick, a first-term Republican, criticized the broader ACA program, calling it a “disastrous failure” since it was signed into law by former President Barack Obama fifteen years ago.
“It had three goals: lower cost, improve quality and create more access,” McCormick said. “It’s failed on all three.”
But McCormick fell short of saying he’d vote against a federal budget proposal that would extend the premium tax credits, which especially benefit low-income Americans who aren’t otherwise eligible for Medicaid. McCormick claimed households making more than $500,000 a year are receiving subsidies for their premiums under the program — a claim widely disputed by the health care industry.
“I’m going to have to see what the options are,” McCormick said. “I’m not going to say what my position would be, because I’m going to see what the negotiations are.”
McCormick said he’s “particularly worried” about premiums rising for working Americans.
“We’re going to have that conversation. We’re not going to have it until the government opens,” he said.
His comments came after he toured the Aurelius Program at Harrisburg University, which focuses on treating traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans.
The federal government has been shuttered since Oct. 1. Most Democratic lawmakers, besides McCormick’s Pennsylvania colleague, Sen. John Fetterman, have opposed voting for the GOP’s temporary funding bill unless an expanded ACA extension is included.
Some Republicans with constituencies that benefit from the subsidies, like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, are supporting their extension.
McCormick blamed Democrats for the shutdown. On the pause of payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program starting Nov. 1 and impacting about 2 million Pennsylvanians, McCormick said reinstating those funds was among his top priorities in voting to fund the government.