Democrats have long intertwined their political identity with healthcare reform, making the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, a central achievement. It’s worth recalling that when Obamacare passed the Senate in 2010, it did so without a single Republican vote. For Democrats, the possibility of Obamacare’s failure is almost unthinkable.
Obamacare was itself a compromise: Some Democrats advocated for a national single-payer healthcare system, while others favored a more market-based approach. Ultimately, all Democrats agreed that the ACA—which established taxpayer-funded subsidies enabling millions to purchase health coverage—was just the beginning. They expected the program to grow over time.
However, because Republicans uniformly opposed the system, any significant expansion or increase in funding for Obamacare required Democrats to control the House, Senate, and White House. That opportunity came in early 2021, when President Joe Biden held office alongside a Democratic Congress. Immediately, Democrats passed a package of new subsidies atop those already provided by the ACA. These were characterized as an “emergency” measure, designed to help Americans through the COVID-19 pandemic, and were scheduled to last only one year, expiring in 2022.
In 2022, Democrats renewed the additional subsidies once again as an “emergency” measure, this time extending them for three years, through December 31, 2025. Meanwhile, premiums under Obamacare have continued to climb—an estimated 30% increase this year alone.
This situation led Democrats to a dilemma: even if the “emergency” subsidies were extended, millions would still face significant premium hikes. If the subsidies expired—as every single Senate Democrat voted to do by agreeing they would end on December 31, 2025—the cost of Obamacare coverage would skyrocket for many families.
Importantly, the Biden administration declared the official end of the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11, 2023. Despite this, Democrats opted to keep the “emergency” subsidies in place through 2025. There is now no legitimate emergency rationale for extending these additional subsidies—but a strong political one exists. Contrary to initial predictions, the cost of Obamacare is rising sharply. Without more taxpayer-funded subsidies, fewer and fewer people may be able to afford coverage.
To address this, Democrats made an extraordinary move: they blocked government funding unless Republicans agreed to extend the extra “emergency” Obamacare subsidies. Republicans proposed to keep the government funded and then discuss any Democratic proposals on health care, but Democrats insisted on linking the two. The House GOP passed a straightforward funding bill, but Senate Democrats filibustered, causing a 40-day deadlock. In the end, the government shutdown pressures forced a handful of Democratic senators to relent.
The bigger picture reveals a troubling reality: the Affordable Care Act is struggling to make health coverage affordable and sustainable. Some Democrats have openly admitted this, explaining that their decision to trigger a government shutdown was based on the urgent need for more “emergency” subsidies.
“I owe you an answer on why it is I’m standing here today, asking to extend something that was temporary,” Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) said on the Senate floor recently. “We did fail to bring down the cost of healthcare.”
As the future of Obamacare remains uncertain, Democrats face critical decisions about the direction and affordability of American healthcare.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-memo/3881712/why-democrats-fought-so-long-before-caving/