LOS ANGELES (OC).–President Donald Trump urges Congress to extend the Obamacare government subsidies before they elapse at year’s end, causing premiums to go through the roof for some 25 million Americans currently in the program. Signed into law by former President Barack Obama March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act [ACA] revolutionized health care in the United States, forcing insurance companies to accept pre-existing conditions and retain dependents benefits until age 26. No matter how angry Republicans at Obamacare for letting Congress vote on a simple majority vote to pass the watershed legislation, the ACA has helped many uninsured citizens get insurance when they couldn’t get it. Obamacare received subsidies from the Medicaid system, paid health care for the indigent population. Subscribers have benefitted by government subsidies and tax credits.
Unlike Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in the House, Trump recognizes that Obamacare cannot be fixed overnight, certainly not by year’s end. Many Republicans have worked feverishly over the years to end Obamacare even though it worked for a growing segment of the uninsured population. “Somebody said I want to extend it for two years. I don’t want to extend it for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all,” Trump said on Air Force One. “Some kind of extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been as disaster. It’s a disaster,” Trump said, but knowing the clock is ticking. Republicans don’t have enough time to reform Obamacare before year’s end. If Trump lets the subsidies lapse, he knows he’ll have hell to pay in the 2026 Midterm election. Republicans know that Democrats and the fake news have made health care a cause célèbre.
Democrats shut down the government Oct. 1 because of health care, recognizing that Trump’s July 4 Big Beautiful Bill cut some $1.5 trillion out of Medicaid that also impacts Obamacare subsidies. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) promised Democrats a vote on the ACA if they reopened the government. Whether some Republicans would like to see Obamacare die an unceremonious death, they also know that Democrats would make health care their Number One cause in the Midterm elections. Trump’s instincts tell him to resolve the issue before year’s end or when policies are due to lapse and spiral in cost. Unlike Thune, Johnson deals with a more conservative House GOP, looking for any chance over the years to end Obamacare. Trump ran in 2016 on ending Obamacare, not realizing then how many citizens have grown dependent on it.
When Trump says Obama is a disaster, he refers to the fact that it’s unaffordable on its own, requiring government subsidies. Unlike other industries, the heath care industry requires government subsidies to subscribers but, more importantly, to hospitals and clinics. Ending Obamacare Medicaid subsidies would devastate the health care industry built up around government funding. Democrats have warned Trump that failing to reinstate Medicaid and Obamacare funding would crush the government funded health care industry. Johnson is too busy pandering to his conservative base to recognize how the Medicaid and Obamacare issues harm the GOP going into the 2026 Midterm elections. U.S. citizens want more benefits from the government not less, especially with Republicans playing politics with government funding for Medicaid and Obamacare.
Calling Obamacare a “boondoggle,” Johnson offers nothing constructive to avoid a slow motion train wreck that’s recently sped up. “Am I going to guarantee a vote on ACA unreformed COVID-era subsidies that is just a boondoggle to insurance companies and robs the taxpayer? We go a lot of work to do on that,” Johnson said, knowing that the window for reforming the system is ready to shut. “We, the Republicans, would demand a lot of reforms before anything like that was ever possible. And we have to go through that deliberative process,” Johnson said, know time has run out. Johnson doesn’t have the luxury of time with the ACA set to expire at year’s end. Johnson should heed Trump’s call to extend the program enough time to allow Congress to debate and implement reforms. Johnson knows the clock has run out and Obamacare extensions are necessary.
Time for Johnson and his GOP caucus to wake up before it’ too late for Obamacare. Subcribers and the whole health care industry require government funding to continue, regardless of what conservatives want. It’s not realistic to just junk the program because it’s a longstanding wish of conservatives to end Obamacare. Whether the GOP admits it or not, there are roughly 25 million more uninsured citizens with health insurance because of Obamacare. When it comes to ending discrimination by the insurance industry on pre-existing conditions, Obamacare has paid its weight in gold. GOP members of Congress have had 15 years to reform or replace Obamacare and they have done nothing. Trump sees the only option now as extending the subsidies and figure out the fix later. President Trump reads the political mood better than most—Johnson should listen.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
