The Senate is gearing up for a vote on extending expiring Obamacare premium subsidies, but a tense debate over restrictions on taxpayer-funded abortions is proving a major roadblock on the path to a bipartisan healthcare solution.
Broadly, lawmakers in the upper chamber do not want to see the subsidies expire by the end of the year, given the political ramifications and expected leaps in healthcare premiums that would come should they lapse.
But Republicans demand that Hyde Amendment protections, which prevent taxpayer dollars from funding abortions, be added to an extension of the subsidies. Senate Democrats view that as a non-starter.
“It’s a sticky situation,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., told Fox News Digital.
The Hyde Amendment was first enacted in 1976, and has routinely been added to funding bills in the years since to ensure that federal dollars don’t prop up abortions. The issue has become a political third rail in the ongoing healthcare debate.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged that it was a tricky situation and how difficult carving a path forward on extending the subsidies would be.
“Well, I think dealing with Hyde is a big issue,” Thune said. “And so, obviously, for both sides we’ll have to figure out how to make that work, and we’ll see on that. I don’t know the answer.”
The Senate is set to vote on Senate Democrats’ subsidy proposal next week, which comes after Thune’s guarantee that there would be a vote in his bid to end the government shutdown last month.
