*President Donald Trump suggested that extending Affordable Care Act subsidies “may be necessary” as millions of Americans face higher premiums in 2026.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said, “Somebody said I want to extend it for two years. I don’t want to extend it for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all.” Per ABC News, he added, “Some kind of an extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been a disaster. It’s a disaster.”
Trump also reiterated his own health care proposal, saying, “Don’t give any money to the insurance companies, give it to the people directly. Let ’em go out, buy their own healthcare plan. And we’re looking at that, if, if that can work. We’re looking at that. That’s sort of taken off. That’s what I like.”
The political divide over health care tax credits contributed to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Democrats pushed for an extension, while most Republicans opposed it. The shutdown ended with a Senate deal in which Majority Leader John Thune promised a vote in December on a Democratic bill related to the ACA.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson has declined to guarantee a vote in the House. “Am I going to guarantee a vote on ACA unreformed COVID-era subsidies that is just a boondoggle to insurance companies and robs the taxpayer? We got a lot of work to do on that,” he said.
Johnson added, “We, the Republicans, would demand a lot of reforms before anything like that was ever possible. And we have to go through that deliberative process.” Some Republicans have pressured Johnson to bring the measure to a vote.
There are roughly 22 million enrollees currently receiving subsidies, with December 15 as the deadline to sign up for or change plans that begin on January 1. The marketplace enrollment for 2026 health coverage closes on January 15.
A recent KFF poll found that 78% of Americans support extending the ACA marketplace tax credits, including 59% of Republicans.
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