Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore licensed under CC
After 17 House Republicans joined Democrats to approve a three-year reinstatement of COVID-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies, President Trump indicated he may veto the bill should it advance through the Senate.
Americans for Tax Reform applauds the President’s instincts and urges him to exercise his veto should Congress ultimately capitulate.
Last week, every House Democrat and 17 House Republicans voted to revive the COVID-era, expanded Obamacare subsidies that expired at the end of 2025. Not only were these enhanced subsidies always supposed to be temporary, but are extremely expensive, funnel money straight to insurance companies, and fuel rampant fraud.
Following this disappointing vote, Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform did not mince words:
“These 17 Republicans ran to news cameras to bluster about the $9 billion of fraud exposed in Minnesota. But, when it came time to actually protect taxpayers, they folded and voted with Democrats to fund 58,000 dead people on Obamacare exchanges and $27 billion worth of fraudulent, squandered taxpayer dollars – triple the amount stolen in Minnesota.
They voted to make healthcare more unaffordable. The only reason we’re in this position is because Obamacare has failed. It has radically increased premiums and lowered standards of care. Certainly, expanding it and keeping us on a path to more socialized healthcare will only make these problems worse.
Taxpayers should thank President Trump, Republican leadership, and the 196 House Republicans who said NO to expanding Obamacare and continuing fraudulent spending of taxpayer dollars.”
Reinstating these subsidies will increase healthcare costs in the long run. When insurance companies know the government will foot the bill, they raise their prices. It is no wonder insurers are out in force lobbying to protect a subsidy scheme that rewards price hikes and guarantees them a government backstop.
In their lobbying efforts, they’ve misled the public regarding how much of an effect the EPTC expiration had on their rising premiums. According to insurers themselves in preliminary 2026 benchmark rate filings, only 4 percent of the 20 percent average premium increase this year is attributable to the expiration of expanded Obamacare subsidies.
As President Trump rightly highlighted:
“I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the bad Healthcare provided by Obamacare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE…”
Hundreds of billions of dollars spent on this expansion are going straight to insurers, not to patients. This is precisely why they have already led to higher healthcare costs and premiums for American consumers. A CBO report confirmed that premiums for exchange plans are rising more quickly than originally anticipated.
While some Americans may be concerned about premiums going up in the short term, removing the incentive for insurers to continue raising their prices will save patients money in the long run.
The Trump Administration has also taken strong action to investigate and prosecute fraud in Minnesota while exposing similar abuses elsewhere.
Ensuring that the expanded Obamacare subsidies stay gone is a continuation of these efforts. After all, improper payments for these expanded subsidies, in 2025 alone, total $27 billion – three times the size of the fraud uncovered in Minnesota.
Lax verification and $0 monthly premium plans during the Biden expansion enabled millions to qualify improperly. The Paragon Health Institute estimated that 6.4 million Americans are improperly enrolled in Obamacare exchanges, a number that surged by more than one-quarter from 2024 to 2025. As mentioned, this level of improper enrollment, which is likely an underestimation, will cost taxpayers up to $27 billion this year.
Last month, the GAO released a report uncovering massive improper use of SSNs to receive Obamacare subsidies and 58,000 dead people receiving subsidies. Shockingly, every fake identity created by GAO received subsidized ACA coverage.
While alarmism is expected of the Left, it is concerning that a few Republicans have fallen into their trap. Let us be clear about what we’re talking about: only 6 percent of the U.S. population received these enhanced premium tax subsidies. The PTC is still intact for those making under 400 percent of the federal poverty line: individuals making under $62,600 annually ($5,216 a month) or, for example, a household of four making under $128,600 annually ($10,716 a month). These were high salary limits to begin with!
Calling the expiration of these subsidies a “crisis” is just fear-mongering designed to protect a costly giveaway that was never intended to be permanent.
