When a group of Senate Democrats voted last month to reopen the government — on the promise that they’d get a vote to extend the expiring Obamacare subsidies — they hoped the threat of soaring insurance premiums would force Republicans to act. Now they’re hoping the failure of that vote can reignite negotiations.

On Thursday, dueling health care proposals collapsed in the Senate, all but guaranteeing dramatic premium hikes for people enrolled in plans under the Affordable Care Act once the enhanced subsidies expire on Jan. 1.

In the first vote, a Republican plan to replace the subsidies with direct-to-consumer payments deposited into Health Savings Accounts — $1,000 a year for enrollees age 18 to 49, and $1,500 for enrollees over 50 — failed to clear the 60-vote threshold for cloture, 51-48, with the vote falling largely along party lines. (Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican to join Democrats in voting no.)

The GOP proposal also would have included a host of other reforms, including enshrining restrictions on the HSA funds so they can’t be used for abortions.

https://www.ms.now/news/senate-face-plants-health-care-obamacare-premiums