OAN Staff Blake Wolf
8:21 AM – Thursday, December 18, 2025
The House passed a GOP health care bill on Wednesday evening, which Republican leaders say will cut health care costs for Americans by approximately 11%.
The bill, titled the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, represents the Republican response to the Democrats’ push for a three-year extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, which are set to expire on December 31st.
The GOP bill does not address the imminent rise in premiums for ACA enrollees, as most Republicans are opposed to the policy without introducing significant reforms.
“ObamaCare has been an unmitigated disaster for 15 years, crushing families with high premiums and rampant fraud while enriching insurance companies. It’s time for conservatives to get serious about advancing policies that can become law and therefore actually reduce costs,” stated Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (R-Texas).
Pfluger went on to criticize Democrats for solely focusing on rising health care costs for Americans receiving the enhanced ACA subsidies, which represent roughly 6% of the country, while ignoring increasing premiums for the vast majority of Americans.
“Democrats are worried about 6% of our country. Republicans are worried about 100% of our country, and premiums are going up, and not a single Republican has ever voted for ObamaCare,” Pfluger added.
The Republican House bill introduces provisions that codify association health plans, allowing individuals in small businesses to purchase health care coverage plans as a group, thereby giving them larger purchasing power, which in turn results in lower premiums.
The bill also includes the appropriation of funds for cost-sharing reductions, decreasing the out-of-pocket costs Americans face in the individual health care market, reducing premiums by around 12%, according to GOP House leadership aides.
“The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act puts patients first. It does exactly what its title promises and more: lowers premium costs for all Americans, expands access to affordable, quality care, gives every American more options and flexibility to choose coverage that is best for their needs, and brings greater transparency to the health care system,” wrote Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) after the bill’s passage.
“House Republicans are working to fix what is broken, restore integrity in our nation’s health care system, and lower the cost of health care for every citizen,” he added.
Earlier on Wednesday, four House Republicans joined a Democrat-led discharge petition to force a vote on an extension for enhanced ACA tax credit subsidies, arguing that Speaker Johnson’s lack of action on the matter left them no choice.
“As I’ve stated many times before, the only policy that is worse than a clean three-year extension without any reforms, is a policy of complete expiration without any bridge. Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome,” stated Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.), one of the Republicans who signed onto the Democrat discharge petition.
“I still believe a straight three-year extension is not the right policy, but I fundamentally believe doing nothing is even worse,” added Representative Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.). “And to me, leadership left us with no option.”
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it will require support from several Democrats to pass, leaving its future uncertain.
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