House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) took to the chamber’s floor last week to voice his opposition to legislation that would extend the pandemic-era enhanced premium subsidies for Obamacare plans for three years. Unfortunately, his wise counsel fell on deaf ears, as all Democrats and 17 Republicans voted for the bill.
“I rise in opposition to $100 billion bailouts for [a] broken system fueled by Democrat mandates,” Smith began. “I rise in opposition to subsidizing insurance plans for wealthy people — any support of the bill ensures subsidies go to wealthy families making as much as $600,000 a year.”
He went on to remark, “It is shameful that Democrats are only focusing on 7% of the population, while ignoring the millions of working families struggling to afford care.”
For his final indictment of the policy, the chairman pointed to the widespread wrongdoing the subsidies have enabled: “Here’s a word you won’t hear from Democrats: fraud. They forced taxpayers to pay up to $27 billion for as many as 6.4 million individuals fraudulently enrolled in Obamacare plans.”
The chairman is right on all counts. The enhanced premium subsidies are wasteful and expensive. They benefit a sliver of the population. And they enrich health insurers despite widespread evidence of fraud.
Thankfully, President Donald Trump seems to see things similarly. He recently pledged to veto any renewal of the tax credits. In a post on Truth Social last weekend, the president quoted the Cato Institute’s Michael Cannon at length, arguing that any subsidy extension ought to be rejected out of hand.
As Cannon observed, renewing the policy would be like “making Obamacare permanent.” Indeed, it would further enshrine a more costly version of Democrats’ signature healthcare overhaul.
FOUR TAKEAWAYS FROM HOUSE OVERSIGHT’S HEATED MINNESOTA FRAUD HEARING
That Republicans would even consider bailing out Obamacare is difficult to believe. After all, the GOP controls the House, Senate, and presidency. Spending $80 billion propping up an ill-conceived progressive policy that supports fraud, keeps premiums high, and disguises Obamacare’s fundamental flaws would be nothing short of lunacy.
The debate over the pandemic-era enhanced premium subsidies has gone on too long already. It’s now up to Senate Republicans to hold strong in their opposition to these tax credits — and consign this policy to the ash heap of history.
Sally C. Pipes is president, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith fellow in healthcare policy at the Pacific Research Institute. Her latest book is The World’s Medicine Chest: How America Achieved Pharmaceutical Supremacy — and How to Keep It (Encounter 2025). Follow her on X @sallypipes.