Stauber votes for Republican health care bill

Dec. 17—WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber voted in favor of the Republicans' health care bill Wednesday that does not extend enhanced subsidies for millions of Americans who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

The subsidies, added during the pandemic, are set to expire Dec. 31, causing the monthly premiums of more than 22 million ACA enrollees to double on average, according to

health policy organization KFF.

In a telephone town hall shortly after he cast his vote Wednesday, Stauber, a Republican from Hermantown, characterized the subsidies as handouts to insurance companies.

"We're not going to allow Big Insurance and Big Pharma to control our health insurance any longer," Stauber said. "They've been ripping the American people off. We've paid through the nose."

The

Congressional Budget Office estimated

the Republicans' bill, which passed the House by a 216-211 vote, would reduce gross benchmark health insurance premiums by 11% while also increasing the number of uninsured people by 100,000 over the next decade. It would also reduce the deficit by $35.6 billion by 2035, the CBO said.

But the bill does not address the expected increase in monthly premiums for many ACA plans next year without the enhanced subsidies.

For example, a 60-year-old making $62,757, or 401% of the poverty rate, enrolled in an ACA Silver Plan and living in Minnesota's 8th Congressional District would see monthly premium payments increase 141% — from $445 to $1,072 — according

to estimates by KFF.

There are almost 20,500 ACA enrollees in the 8th District, which Stauber represents, about 2.8% of the district's population,

KFF estimates.

In a statement Wednesday evening, the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party criticized Stauber and his Republican colleagues for supporting the GOP's health care bill. Minnesota's delegation in the U.S. House — four Republicans and four Democrats — voted along party lines.

"Instead of stepping up to make health care affordable for working people, Minnesota's Republican delegation is selling out families and refusing to lift a finger as premiums skyrocket," DFL Chair Richard Carlbom said in the statement. "Families are facing higher costs, fewer protections, and impossible choices if they get sick."

Four House Republicans, none from Minnesota, signed a Democratic

discharge petition

that would force a vote on extending the subsidies early next year.

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