The U.S. House is expected to vote Thursday on a Democrat-led plan to extend Affordable Care Act [ACA] subsidies after Congress allowed them to lapse in December.
U. S. Rep. Eric Sorensen, a Democrat from Moline, said he’s willing to consider some limits or cost controls that would help the plan pass in the Senate, where 60 votes are required for approval.
“We need something. Something is better than nothing,” Sorensen said during a virtual news conference on Wednesday.
Politico reports a bipartisan group of senators is working on a deal to extend expired tax credits for two years and would come with new income caps and other restrictions. The House plan set for a vote would extend the benefits for three years.
When asked whether Congressional Democrats were willing to force another government shutdown at the end of January if the health care subsidies are not extended [the current continuing resolution expires Jan. 31], Sorensen said government workers should not be asked again to work without pay. Still, he did not rule out that possibility entirely.
“We know that if we go into another government shutdown, it’s going to hurt real families, it’s going to hurt small businesses, it’s going to hurt veterans, but we need House Republicans to do their jobs, too,” Sorensen said.
Sorensen said his office is hearing from some of the 400,000 Illinoisans who have relied on the ACA tax credits and he said many of them are now priced out of health care, which he said is concerning at a time when flu cases are rising.
“It’s unacceptable because these are real families, these are real people. These are people with disabilities. These are senior citizens. These are kids,” Sorensen said.
Funding freeze
The Trump administration froze about $1 billion in federal funding for Illinois to support childcare and social services, in response to an investigation of fraud allegations at Minnesota childcare centers.
Funding also is being withheld in four other Democrat-led states: Minnesota, New York, California and Colorado.
Sorensen called the Trump administration’s actions to strip funding without evidence of wrongdoing “heinous.”
“They are cutting everything out and then they are saying this is because they are getting rid of the waste, the fraud and the abuse that’s happening in these states. Well, go find it, We don’t have that occurring in the state of Illinois,” Sorensen said.
A viral video circulating online claims that Somali-run daycare centers are misusing federal funding intended to provide childcare for low-income families. State investigators in Minnesota later said the centers were operating properly.
