If Congress fails to extend ACA subsidies before the end of 2025, millions of Americans risk losing financial assistance for health insurance, facing much higher premiums, or becoming uninsured. Local Congressional representatives Vern Buchanan (R-FL 16) and Greg Steube (R-FL 17) don't seem to have any answers or even ideas regarding the impending crisis.
Last week, a bipartisan bill to extend the subsidies attracted 16 Republican cosponsors. Steube and Buchanan were not among them. The Common Ground for Affordable Health Care Act was introduced by Representatives Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) to address expiring ACA premium tax credits. The legislation proposes a one-year extension of the credits with targeted modifications, including new income caps and fraud-prevention guardrails, and reforms to Pharmacy Benefit Managers, while extending the ACA open enrollment period to March 19, 2026.
On Friday, I reached out to both Buchanan's and Steube's offices to request comment on why they had not supported the bill, but neither representative responded. House Speaker Mike Johnson has refused to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. On Tuesday, Johnson said he would also not allow a floor vote on a bipartisan amendment supported by those same Republicans. Efforts from both parties to advance legislation in the Senate also failed.
On Tuesday, New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler called the GOP leaders’ decision to let the enhanced ACA tax credits expire “idiotic and shameful,” during a speech on the House floor. There are currently two discharge petitions attempting to force floor votes, and Lawler also blasted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for failing to support the petitions, claiming Democrats would rather benefit from the failure in next year’s midterm elections than solve the problem—not unlike Republicans' actions regarding bipartisan immigration reform in 2024.
Update: Jefferies had apparently been circulating the discharge petition and announced on Wednesday that they had enough signatures to force a vote to extend them for three years. Only four Republicans lent their signatures. Since the bill is all but certain to fail in the Senate, however, it remains unlikely that an extension will pass ahead of the December 31, 2025, expiration date.
Buchanan has never been one to stick his neck out or otherwise take on difficult fights, preferring to focus on uncontroversial legislation even if it means failing his constituents on more important issues. He has gone on record as opposing extending the current ACA subsidies, which he described as "wasteful spending." Buchanan has advocated for "durable, bipartisan solutions" focused on reducing overall costs, and has supported legislation to reverse the current subsidy structure.
Steube was one of only three Republicans to vote against ending the government shutdown, specifically because it left the door open for renewing ACA subsidies. When asked in late November about a potential White House proposal to extend the subsidies, Steube gave a one-word answer: "No," marking a rare break from alignment with the administration. In February, Steube and Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL 3) reintroduced an HSA-related bill from 2023, but it has not advanced out of any of the related committees.
Since moving from the Florida legislature to Congress, Steube has proven little more than a right-wing conspiracy theorist. A 2020 election denier, the Bradenton native objected to the certification of electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
While constituents were worrying about the future of their healthcare status, Steube was on far-right podcaster Benny Johnson’s show, rehashing debunked claims from President Trump’s first term that Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) married her brother to help him get U.S. citizenship and needs to be deported as a result.
Congresswoman Omar married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009. They separated in 2011 and were legally divorced in 2017. No public records or other credible sources indicate that Elmi is her biological sibling, and a review of refugee resettlement documents for Omar’s family’s 1995 entry into the U.S. did not list him as a sibling. Immigration law allows citizens to sponsor siblings for residency, so marrying a sibling would be an unnecessary and illegal risk. What's more, Elmi returned to the United Kingdom after the marriage ended and has not pursued U.S. residency.
For his part, Trump—who continues to claim the 2020 election was stolen and Omar married her brother—has said he favors some sort of direct payment to Americans, previously suggesting it would be $2,000.
“I want all money going to the people and let the people buy their own health care. It’ll be unbelievable,” Trump said on Monday. “They’ll do a great job. They’ll get much better health care at a much lower cost.”
It is unclear how such a plan would mitigate insurance premiums that are expected to double and, in some cases, triple if the subsidies are not extended. Republicans have made 70 efforts to dismantle the ACA (also known as Obamacare) without proposing an alternative.
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teamj1009
Is anyone surprised by this. Of course not. That is how Buchanan is. Afraid to vote on controversial issues. So the way they all do it is not show up. Then when everyone forgets he will say I didn't vote for it. Now if it benefits him he is at the front of the pack. Remember the covid funds for businesses. Did any of them have to pay it back. But of course with how entrenched he is he will keep his career job and still be part of the "Do Nothing Party"
So everyone smarten up.....we can fix this Term Limits, No selling their votes, pay for work and no pay for shutdowns, no benefits beyond what the working class has. When their out the gravy train stops. Problem solved.
Mitch thank you for doing more than the politicians do.
Tuesday, December 16, 2025 Report this
RRICH69176
Both of these men sit and collect a good salary with the best health benefits in the country---Vern is like a turtle hiding most of the time, never making a stand on any controversial issue. Steuben is just rude doing little for the
American people. Star GOP members they are!
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Report this
pattybeenutty
Buchanan and Stuebe have never cared about their constituents. Just look at the cuts to the VA through Trump's decisions. 35,000 Dr.s and nurses gone? What kind of attention will the veterans get now?
How many ACA enrollees will have to pay higher premiums or go without coverage? How will this hurt or not hurt preexisting conditions?
Trump has always hated the ACA, or Obamacare. He would do anything to hurt one of the greatest Presidents in my lifetime. And what other way to do it but to raise the rates and let it collapse, with citizens losing whatever insurance they may have had.
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Report this
GCDUBBAU
If you are going to chastise these legislators for their respective failings, for which I concur, you might at least present the overarching reason - the Affordable Care Act isn’t and never was. The only surprise is that it has taken the general public 10+ years to see they’ve been duped. There are 6 bills in various stages of movement in the House that may attempt to address healthcare premiums and related financial support for those that are legitimately in need of it. You might consider some discussion of that along with your biased narrative.
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Report this
rayfusco68
Steps to move to Medicare for all & Reduce Government Spending
Eliminate Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare Advantage plans are for profit insurance that is more expensive to the government than traditional Medicare. Medicare Advantage plans reduce the quality of medical care through denial and delay of expensive services and actively work to move expensive patients back into traditional Medicare.
Combine parts A, B, D etcetera into one single payer system. The Supplement plans are for profit businesses that cost more individually than a single payer plan would cost. This will also give the government leverage to lower the overall cost.
As a first step to universal healthcare, move the health insurance eligible Medicaid patients into Medicare. Medicare has the highest cost per patient than any other group, due to the age group and Medicaid patients have the lowest cost, due to its young age group. Medicaid is a shared cost program between the States and the Federal government. Combining the programs would save the States billions, and also save the Federal government billions by eliminating the cost of running the separate Medicaid system. Medicaid currently also pays for indigent nursing home patients and that program could be managed separately.
Make all patients in the new Medicare for all eligible for 340-B medications. This is an existing program for the VA, critical access hospitals and Federally Qualified Health Centers. The drug pricing is close to the same pricing other first world patients pay for their medications. Medicare for all would also be allowed to further negotiate drug costs.
Allow businesses and individuals to buy into the new Medicare for all plan at an actuarially calculated non-profit rate. This would help transition to a single payers system.
Require businesses that import temporary labor to purchase temporary Medicare for all coverage for each worker.
Use the H-1B visa system to recruit qualified critical need healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, etc.)
Once a single payer system is established, institute an education loan forgiveness program for all doctors. Increase the financial support of Universities to research and develop new medications and contract with manufactures to produce the medications. The cost to the Medicare for all patients would be minimal since they paid for the Medication development and the cost to other countries to access the patented meds would be set at a reasonable profit to support the system.
Social Security Recommendation
Remove the cap on earnings for social security FICA which is currently 12.4% half from the individual paychecks and half from the employer. This would increase Social Security revenue by over 1 trillion dollars. This among would not be needed so the FICA would be reduced putting more take home pay in workers paychecks and revenue in the employer’s business. The increased earnings would be subject to federal taxing adding revenue to the general fund but there is still a net gain for the employee and business.
Legislation Recommendation
Make every bill presented for passage by congress a stand alone bill. Eliminate the practice of tacking on irrelevant bills that would not pass on their own merit. Good bills should not be held hostage by bad bills.
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Report this
rjckeuka4
Keep calling them out Mitch...turtle Buchanan and conspiracy theorist Stuebe! Buchanan's newsletter and insta-polls are a joke...camouflage to hint he's doing something...and Steube only comes out from under his rock to kiss the President's A__! It's votes folks...gotta vote them out!!!
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Report this
san.gander
Both Republican Congressmen from our local Districts of Florida do not give a "flying flip" for the issues affecting the lower and middle income working classes in their districts People who are working citizens, those unable to work, some professionals - like public school teachers with modest incomes, and retirees living on pensions that provided comfortable retirements with modest increases, now watch fearfully as inflation nudges them from a modest standard of living to poverty! Our two Representatives are not working in the best interests of all the people, for the good of all. They have been "rubber stamps" for any federal legislation that benefits Florida's "Yachting Classes" of which Vern is a conspicuous member! Think, tax cuts for the rich. A Trump economy is not a good economy - a really good "rising economy" lifts all boats - not just yachts.
What maybe worse... these Representatives have been silent in the face of overt unspeakable criminal acts of Trump and his cronies doing "actual murder" through acts of war on the oceans, and the actions of ICE Police State tactics toward human beings. Our Representatives in Congress should be working to halt this hard right march toward one man un-democratic authoritarian rule!
Trump has "love fests" with autocratic dictators such as the King of Saudi Arabi, Kim Jong Un of North Korea, and Putin of Russia. Why? Because Trump is one... he wants in the club! "Trumpism" in America, is destroying our reputation as a just and decent country, ruining international relationships with neighboring countries, and our allies in the world!
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Report this
Debann
A pair of LOSERS...reaping what was sowed by voters...you get what you vote for...SHAMEFUL
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Report this