Harrison: Could Roger Wicker be part of another rare bipartisan health plan in U.S. Congress?

Below is a political opinion column by Bobby Harrison:

There is a chance that a rare case — not a pandemic but a single occurrence of bipartisanship on a health care issue — could break out in the U.S. Congress before the end of the year.

Such cases are few and far between, but national press reports indicate that the Republican-controlled Congress, fearing the backlash in the 2026 midterm elections, is pondering extending the program that provides enhanced federal financial assistance to people purchasing health insurance policies through the Affordable Care Act exchanges.

If the enhanced subsidies expire at the end of 2025 as scheduled, it would create a substantial increase in cost for the millions of Americans who get their health insurance coverage through the marketplace exchange — a key component of former President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

During the administration of former President Joe Biden, Democrats increased the federal subsidies provided to help people pay for the ACA exchange policies. No Republican voted for the enhanced federal subsidies just as they did not vote for the ACA in 2010.

But now fearing a backlash in the 2026 midterm elections, some are reportedly trying to find a way to extend the enhanced subsidies for at least another year.

If the federal financial assistance for the cost of the marketplace policies expires, Mississippi will be hit particularly hard.

Unless Congress acts before the end of the year, the price of the marketplace's health insurance policies will increase an estimated $480 annually in Mississippi, according to KFF, a national group that conducts health care research. The subsidies are provided based on income levels, so the costs for some could be much higher next year if the enhanced assistance expires at the end of 2025.

Participation in the marketplace by Mississippians has increased 242% in recent years since the enhanced federal assistance program was enacted, according to KFF. Only Texas has seen a greater increase at 255%.

Many of the Republicans who expect tough elections in 2026 now want to extend the program.

Republican Roger Wicker of Tupelo, Mississippi's senior U.S. senator, is not up for reelection in 2026, but he has at times worked with Democrats on bipartisan health bills.

In 1997, Wicker, then a new member of the U.S. House, was part of a bipartisan alliance that passed the Children's Health Insurance Program, which helped children of the working poor obtain health insurance.

The program has been pivotal in Mississippi, a state with one of the nation's highest poverty rates and a large segment of its population working in low paying jobs. About 85,000 Mississippi children are enrolled in CHIP, according to Medicaid.gov.

The creation of CHIP occurred against big political odds. Before it was proposed, then-President Bill Clinton tried to pass his version of universal health care with First Lady Hillary Clinton leading that effort. The bill, which was derisively called Hillarycare, was savaged. The bill crashed and burned and created considerable ill will in Washington.

But in the wake of that failure, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Sens. Ted Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, passed CHIP. Hillary Clinton, history should note, is also credited with playing a role in the passage of CHIP.

Wicker was part of that bipartisan effort. Wicker, who had been a member of the state Senate only three years earlier where he chaired the Public Health Committee, viewed CHIP as a proposal that would help Mississippi families.

Trent Lott of Mississippi, who at the time was the Senate majority leader, opposed CHIP, calling it "a big government program." Thad Cochran, the state's senior U.S. senator, like Wicker, supported the program.

And Cochran, a key member of the Senate Appropriations Committee for years, played pivotal roles in ensuring CHIP continued in future years when it appeared it might be in jeopardy.

In 2025, it will be interesting to see if Wicker or any other member of Mississippi's congressional delegation is instrumental in ensuring the enhanced subsidies continue for the ACA exchange.

After all, all four U.S. House members and Cindy Hyde-Smith, the state's junior U.S. senator, will be up for reelection in 2026.

-- Article credit to Bobby Harrison for Mississippi Today