WASHINGTON —Californians using Obamacare-inspired health care plans and facing huge premium increases at the start of next year got some hope this week that cost-cutting subsidies will continue.

Efforts by Reps. Kevin Kiley, R-Roseville, and Sam Liccardo, D-San Jose, to push for a two-year extension have gotten backing from bipartisan members of the House, as well as a nod from President Donald Trump.

Another group of lawmakers from both parties sent a letter to GOP leaders last week urging them to include Democrats and Republicans in the legislative process on health care change. Rep. Adam Gray, D-Merced, was among the signers.

Kiley was upbeat about the subsidies’ prospects, particularly with Trump signaling something needs to be done. ”There’s a real opportunity for a bipartisan agreement,” Kiley said.

The intrigue involves credits for Obamacare-inspired health care policy premiums. Credits for the policies began 11 years ago. During the Covid pandemic, they were expanded, but the extra subsidy expires at the end of this year.

How much will premium prices go up?

Under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, people can choose to buy different health care plans. Gold and platinum plans generally require lower out-of-pocket costs but have more expensive premiums.

Silver plans have more moderate deductibles. KFF, the nonpartisan group that conducts health care research, has estimated that in the Sacramento area, a 40-year-old with a $31,000 income, who paid $58 a month for the silver plan, would see their payment jump to $153.

A 60-year-old couple with an $82,000 income, who now pay $581 monthly, would see a bill of $2,551. In Sacramento’s eastern suburbs, that cost would be $2,780, and in far northern California, $3,179.

In the Central Valley, the current $58 premium for the 40-year-old would also jump to $153. The 60-year-olds’ premium would be boosted from $581 to between $2,117 and $2,781.

Premiums vary due to local costs of physicians, hospitals and other health care providers.

Republicans wary of subsidies

Trump signaled this week he is open to an extension. Early in the week, there were reports that Trump would support extending the subsidies for two more years.

But House Republican leaders warned that many GOP lawmakers were not ready to back the proposal. There are concerns that a deal would allow states to continue including abortion coverage in Obamacare plans, and there is longstanding opposition to the entire Obamacare system that Republicans have been trying to overhaul for years.

“Since Democrats pushed the country toward a more socialist-style healthcare system through the ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act, costs have only risen….It’s time to move away from socialist policies and pursue a new approach to healthcare,” tweeted Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., an emergency room physician.

Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, recalled in an X post that Democrats pushed the legislation setting the current expiration date. “The original Obamacare subsidies remain untouched, fully intact, just like they were before the pandemic. No cuts, no cruelty—just the scheduled end of a temporary program. Let these subsidies EXPIRE!” he wrote.

Tuesday, Trump altered his stance a bit. “I’d rather not,” he said of an extension.

“Somebody said I want to extend them for two years. I don’t want to extend them for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all,” he said, but added, “Some kind of extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been a disaster.”

“The premiums are going up, and it’s the Democrats’ fault. But, you know, they are negotiating with me. It’s very interesting,” Trump noted.

What does Rep. Kiley’s bill do?

The Kiley-Liccardo bill would impose a limit on how much a consumer can earn in order to qualify for help, restricting aid to those making 600% of poverty or less, or $192,900 for a family of four.

The bill would also crack down on overpayments to the Medicare Advantage program, which helps insure seniors, and for certain practices by insurance brokers.

The plan is being floated as the Senate prepares to vote on the subsidies sometime next month, fulfilling a promise by Republican leaders for a vote. That promise helped sway enough Democrats to join Republicans in the Senate last month to end the 43-day government shutdown.

Joining Kiley and Liccardo this week in supporting the bill were Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, Mike Lawler, R-New York, Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, Don Bacon, R-Nebraska., Maggie Goodlander, D-New Hampshire and Deborah Ross, D-North Carolina.

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