Why Republicans Can’t Agree on Health Care

Lost amid the political implications of allowing certain Obamacare subsidies to expire is the fact that this is Year 17, and counting, of Republicans failing to agree among themselves on health care policy.

The political implications matter, of course. That phrasing — “political implications” — is clinical, Washington-speak for roughly 22 million Americans being on the verge of losing an additional layer of federal assistance first made available during the coronavirus pandemic, without which their health insurance premiums will skyrocket. Some significant percentage of these people, who purchase policies on the Affordable Care Act exchanges, won’t have the cash to cover the higher cost and will be forced into less generous coverage or none at all. Republicans are not indifferent to the impact this will have on voters and their families, nor clueless about the backlash it might precipitate in the 2026 midterm elections.