Van Orden says Obamacare is a “failed program,” won’t commit to extending subsidies

Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden said the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which provides health insurance to 45 million Americans, is a “failed program.”

House Republicans, like Van Orden, are refusing to extend Obamacare tax subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 3.8 million people could become uninsured next year as a result.

Reporters asked Van Orden about the Republican blockade during a Nov. 4 visit to a La Crosse homeless shelter. That’s when he made the “failed program” remark and indicated that the subsidies were not a priority for him.

“People need health insurance,” he said. “I want every single American citizen to have quality, affordable, reliable health care. But the time to debate that is after the government is open, not now.”

Van Orden was equally cagey in an interview with WISN’s Upfront two days prior. The hosts repeatedly asked Van Orden if he supported extending the subsidies, and each time he tried to deflect and change the subject.

“Tony Evers wants you to focus on this,” Van Orden said, referring to the subsidies, “so that you don’t focus on the fact that … there’s over 200 cases since 2018 of Wisconsin schoolchildren being groomed and molested by their teachers.”

The hosts were visibly perplexed by Van Orden’s response.

While Van Orden has not taken a firm stance on extending the subsidies, he has called for the full repeal of Obamacare several times, including on the current iteration of his congressional website. His 2024 campaign website called for removing the “last vestiges of the disastrous Obama Care.”

In 2023, Van Orden supported the failed Limit, Save, Grow Act, that would have cut Obamacare and forced 116,600 veterans to lose some health care benefits.

More than 313,000 Wisconsinites are currently enrolled in Obamacare. Van Orden is considered one of the most vulnerable House Republicans facing reelection in 2026.