Van Orden backs GOP blockade of Obamacare subsidies as costs rise

Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden can’t stop fantasizing about eliminating the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the program that provides health insurance to 45 million Americans.

Subsidies that help families afford Obamacare will expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts. Democrats generally favor a clean extension of the subsidies, while Republicans, like Van Orden, want to cut the subsidies and Obamacare more broadly. 

The subsidies were created as part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan signed by President Joe Biden. The bill received zero Republican votes.

“What we’re trying to do as Republicans here is make sure that we can lay out some very solid legislation that’s going to undo what the Democrats did,” Van Orden told The Hill last month.

This remark echoes previous comments in which Van Orden characterized Obamacare as a “failed program” and called for its total repeal.

On Dec. 11, Republicans blocked a bill in the Senate that would have extended the subsidies for three more years. Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin backed the measure. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson opposed it.

About 300,000 Wisconsinites currently receive Obamacare subsidies. Baldwin says their premiums may now double or, in some cases, quadruple. 

“We are in a time of great urgency, and really the only workable solution right now is to extend these tax breaks so that working families can afford their premiums,” Baldwin told Wisconsin Public Radio.

Chrysa Ostenso of Ladysmith, WI told Spectrum News that her health insurance premiums are expected to jump by $1,500 a month.

“Our health care system is not perfect, but letting these credits expire will make things worse, more expensive, more out of reach, and more dangerous,” she said. 

Polling suggests Van Orden and Republicans are out of step with most voters. A new poll from KFF found that 84% of Obamacare enrollees want the subsidies extended. Another KFF poll found that a majority of enrollees will blame President Donald Trump and House Republicans for any spike in premiums.

Van Orden is regarded as one of the most vulnerable House Republicans facing reelection next year.