Senate Republicans are signaling they’ll go along with extending taxpayer-funded Obamacare subsidies set to expire at year’s end, but only if Democrats agree to tougher limits on abortion coverage in health insurance plans.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said there would be negotiations over extending the subsidies after the government reopens, NBC News reported Tuesday. He said one condition will be stricter rules under the Hyde Amendment, which bars most federal funding from being used for abortions.
Thune promised Democrats a vote on extending the subsidies in mid-December as part of the bipartisan compromise on the funding bill to reopen the government.
The measure passed 60–40 in the upper chamber on Monday night.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) complies with the Hyde Amendment by barring federal premium tax credits and other federal funds from paying for most abortions and by requiring separate payments for abortion coverage.
Republicans want to prohibit states from allowing ACA enrollees to obtain abortion coverage using state or other nonfederal funding.
