Efforts by Congress to stabilize Obamacare’s insurance markets have hit a snag, and a bipartisan compromise appears increasingly unlikely, Axios reported on Tuesday.
The two sides had been working on a proposal which would fund Obamacare’s cost-sharing subsidies, as well as a new reinsurance program, in exchange for new regulatory flexibility.
Many believed a deal would be helpful for both sides, since Democrats would benefit by protecting President Barack Obama's signature achievement and Republicans would prevent large premium hikes for which they could be blamed heading into midterm elections.
However, other political considerations are turning out to be more powerful.
A main stumbling block has been a disagreement over abortion, specifically whether to leave existing Obamacare language intact, or add new restrictions, which apply to other federal health care programs, that would prevent plans receiving the payments for cost-sharing subsidies from covering abortion.
Since Republicans need pro-life voters to come to the polls in November, they are wary of doing anything to depress their enthusiasm to cast a ballot.
In addition, doing anything to strengthen Obamacare continues to be difficult for the GOP base to stomach.
Just last week a coalition of 15 conservative groups urged Congress not to "bail out" the Affordable Care Act, but to "fulfill their longstanding promise of repealing and replacing Obamacare," according to The Hill.
Meanwhile, Democrats are not willing to compromise either on abortion, which is a big issue for their base.
As for sharp premium increases, Democrats say that voters will blame Republicans since they are the party in power.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.