BLAINE, Maine — U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King voted for the deal that ended the longest-ever government shutdown this month after assuring constituents that they would support separate talks to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire Dec. 31.
But the last week has offered signs of declining hope among members of the Republican-controlled Congress that a breakthrough will arrive. President Donald Trump also indicated on social media Tuesday he will no longer support the structure of giving subsidies to health insurance companies to keep premiums down and instead only will sign off on “SENDING THE MONEY DIRECTLY BACK TO THE PEOPLE.”
The political and economic stakes facing lawmakers are high. The pandemic-era subsidies cost about $35 billion a year and have benefited more than 20 million Americans, including about 55,000 Mainers, with premiums expected to more than double on average if the credits expire.
Collins, who is up for reelection to a sixth term in 2026 and who took credit for crafting the shutdown-ending deal as the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, and her fellow Republicans may face blowback from voters if they do not extend the subsidies. More than half of ACA enrollees nationally reportedly live in Republican-held congressional districts.
King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, took intense heat from the left for joining seven Democratic senators to vote this month with Republicans to pass the stopgap plan that funds the government through January. The deal punted votes on extending the ACA tax credits to December. King’s critics have noted it did not commit the GOP-led Senate to any solution, but King justified his vote for ending the shutdown by saying it improved the chances of reaching a tax credit agreement.
King, who won reelection to a third term last year, was traveling to Halifax, Canada, on Friday for an international defense forum, according to spokesperson Matthew Felling. Felling said in a statement that King cosponsored legislation in January to permanently extend the credits and said he “remains focused on protecting 50,000 Maine people from drastic price hikes that will kick in on Jan. 1.”
“Sen. King is hoping to find common ground and a sense of urgency in his ongoing conversations with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle,” Felling said.
Collins had declined in a Bangor Daily News interview earlier this month to share how long of an extension she would support. But asked again about that Friday while visiting Central Aroostook Ambulance Services in the town of Blaine, Collins signaled lawmakers may need to initially agree on extending credits for six or so months.
She said she would then support a second round of negotiations that would restore a pre-pandemic cap that had limited tax credit eligibility to those making no more than 400% of the federal poverty guidelines, currently $128,600 for a family of four, and would want to avoid a “cliff” that makes people lose the credits if they earn a dollar above the limit, for example.
Mentioning “sweeping reforms” that several GOP senators have pitched to replace the credits, such as a “Trump Health Freedom Account” idea from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, that resembles a health savings account, Collins said “as many ideas as can be brought to the table helps to advance the process, but I think we need to make sure we know the implications.”
“To me the implications are how many families are still going to be assured that they can afford health insurance. That’s the most important question for us to ask,” Collins said.
Regarding the prospects of reaching any agreement on extending the subsidies, Collins said she was on the phone earlier Friday with an unidentified House member who she said asked her to join a group of 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats that will hold a Monday night Zoom call to discuss “some ideas.”
“Those are all good signs,” Collins said. “I think we have to act.”
Still, a clean extension of the tax credits looked increasingly unlikely this week. A Senate Finance Committee hearing on the topic Wednesday featured partisan sparring and only one Republican, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, expressing support for temporarily extending the subsidies in their current form. (Tillis is not seeking reelection next year.)
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, also told Capitol Hill reporters she expects a side-by-side vote on partisan bills next month instead of agreement on one measure.
“We’re going to settle on a package of our own,” she said.