As the next federal-funding deadline approaches, Democrats say restoring billions of dollars in health-insurance subsidies for Americans is the minimum price of their vote to avoid a Republican shutdown. Via the Wall St. Journal:

Democrats are more confident in their negotiating stance compared with March, when a similar attempt to play hardball fizzled. While today’s talks pit them against Republican leaders who want a two-month spending deal with no big additions, they are finding support among rank-and-file GOP lawmakers fearing political backlash if their voters are hit by higher health-insurance bills next year.

“Republicans have to come to meet with us in a true bipartisan negotiation to satisfy the American people’s needs on healthcare, or they won’t get our votes, plain and simple,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Thursday.

[...] The fight centers on the extension of expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits. The subsidies, which expanded the payments offered under the existing ACA, or Obamacare, were first passed in 2021 by Democrats as a temporary measure tied to a Covid-19 aid law. Republicans didn’t renew them in their sprawling tax-and-spending legislation President Trump signed in July, meaning they will expire at the end of this year.

About 24.3 million Americans are enrolled in Obamacare, with about 22.4 million of them receiving subsidies, according to health researcher KFF. All of those subsidies would shrink or be zeroed out if the additional enhancement ended.

The enhanced federal payments made Obamacare plans far cheaper for lower-income and many middle-class consumers. If the payments aren’t extended, millions of ACA insurance enrollees who benefited from the expanded subsidies will see their health-insurance bills soar. KFF estimates that the monthly premium bills paid by those who get subsidies will increase by more than 75% on average, which in turn could prompt many to drop coverage altogether.