Just look at how the Washington Post frames this issue.

A one-year deal to extend the expiring ACA subsidies would avoid what was expected to be a bruising battle for both parties. Democrats, who crafted the subsidies and have fought to defend them, are set to lose control of the Senate and the White House next year, complicating their ability to make policy. Republicans, who are set to gain control of Washington, are wary of being punished by voters for any perception that they are rolling back health-care coverage, with the backlash to their ACA repeal efforts still fresh in many lawmakers’ minds.

 

GOP leaders have repeatedly said they are skeptical of the subsidies, which expanded long-standing ACA tax credits to millions of Americans, and the influential House Republican Study Committee has called to end the nearly four-year-old initiative.

 

It is not yet clear whether Republican leaders, who control the House, will agree to any of the proposals. Spokespeople for Republicans on the House Ways and Means and the Senate Finance committees declined to comment.

If House Republicans really worried about “being punished by voters for any perception that they are rolling back health-care coverage, then they are worried about the wrong thing. The American People just elected a change agent in Trump and Republican majorities to help him do it. We are sick and tired of all of this massive spending just being continued and expanded to no perceivable end to the utter ruin of our nation. Obamacare is a disaster and the federal government is squandering the wealth of our nation. If they can’t start saying “no” to something, then House Republicans should fear being cast from office at the earliest opportunity.

Two comments… first, it is difficult for me to muster much sympathy when so many of the insurers pushed to foist Obamacare on our nation in the first place. Second, have we not learned that you should never trust the government to honor an agreement? Just ask the Native Americans.

Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative expected to receive $45 million in 2015 through a program in the Affordable Care Act to help offset the risk health insurers faced in a new market.

The Wisconsin cooperative instead received $5.7 million.

Common Ground Healthcare, based in Brookfield, now is among more than 100 health insurers who contend that the federal government owes them billions of dollars for reneging on commitments made as part of the Affordable Care Act.

Here’s an interesting look from National Review.

Premiums for Obamacare policies next year will be so high that millions will be exempt from the tax penalty whether Congress repeals it or not. Even the skimpiest coverage now costs so much that many uninsured people with six-figure incomes will be exempt. The individual mandate is repealing itself.

[…]

For a 35-year-old couple, subsidies end at about $65,000 in income — but Bronze-level coverage costs an average of nearly $7,800, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s premium calculator. This premium will exceed 8 percent of the couple’s income unless their earnings approach $97,400. A 31-year-old couple with a toddler loses subsidies at an income of about $82,000, but would have to pay more than $9,800 for a Bronze plan — meaning they would be exempt from the penalty unless their earnings total nearly $123,000.

Middle-aged people pay higher premiums under Obamacare, making them even more likely to qualify for exemptions. A 50-year-old couple ineligible for subsidies (which end around $65,000) would face premiums of nearly $11,400 for a Bronze policy, freeing them from the penalty if their income is below $142,000. At the extreme, a 64-year-old couple (facing the same $65,000 subsidy cutoff) wouldn’t have to pay the tax penalty unless their earnings topped $239,000.

Lavish premiums don’t buy lavish coverage. Family deductibles for Bronze plans average more than $12,000, and limits on out-of-pocket spending for covered, in-network services average nearly $14,000. Our hypothetical 35-year-old couple would have to shell out more than $21,700 in premiums and medical bills before their insurance company began bearing the full cost of their in-network expenses. Hardly an appealing proposition.

I looked at an Obamacare plan for my family last month. Thankfully, I don’t need it, because it was ridiculous. The Bronze plan was $28,992 per year with a $12,500 deductible. We do not qualify for subsidies, so a full year of coverage plus the deductible totals $41,492. And we are a pretty healthy family. Affordable? Hardly.

Yes, Obamacare is still collapsing around us and hurting families every day.

Anthem (ANTM) is pulling out of Nevada’s Obamacare exchange for 2018 and cutting its presence in Georgia’s marketplace roughly in half, the company announced Monday.

Other insurers are also expected to downsize their involvement or to hike rates in coming weeks.

Sens. John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins joined with Democrats to oppose the measure, a major blow to President Donald Trump and the Republican congressional agenda.

McCain, who had voted for a motion to proceed to the bill Tuesday after returning to Washington following surgery for a brain tumor, held out all day, including in a news conference where he criticized the partisan process that led to the after-midnight vote.

Finally. Republicans can guarantee themselves the minority if they fail on this key promise.

Vice President Mike Pence cast the tiebreaking vote.

In a dramatic moment, Sen. John McCain returned from Arizona to applause from fellow senators. He cast a necessary Republican vote for the motion after two GOP senators — Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski — sided with all Democrats in opposition.

As the vote began, protesters in the Senate gallery shouted “kill the bill” and “shame, shame, shame!”

The vote came as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump dared their fellow Republicans to block their seven-year campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Wow. Working?

One of the last insurers on Iowa’s ObamaCare exchanges announced Monday it would sell plans in 2018 but proposed an average rate increase of 43.5 percent.

Medica’s decision means every county in Iowa will have at least one insurer on the exchanges next year.

There were questions about whether or not Medica would participate next year after two other insurance carriers announced they would not.

If Medica pulled out, nearly all the counties in Iowa would have had zero insurers on the ObamaCare exchanges in 2018.

By definition, if there are 5 plans floating around, they are not planning to actually repeal Obamacare.

While Senate Republicans insist they are making progress on health care reform, they are not confident that they can meet the summer timeline being put forth by the White House.

Instead, Republicans on Capitol Hill are trying to manage expectations.

“We’re getting closer to having a proposal that we’ll be bringing up in the near future,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters Tuesday.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) said Republicans have whittled their options down to about “five” different plans. And Senator Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri echoed that the discussions are now at the “granular” level.

That said, there are just 18 days until the week-long Fourth of July recess, and 31 days until the five-week-long August recess.

Even if Republicans can hammer out the framework, as Lankford underscored, “once we get that part settled on … we’re still gonna draft it, get a score, try to go through the process. Does the score work? Does it not work? What do we need changed from it, so we still got a ways to go.”

While Republicans debate, an increasing number of insurers have been pulling out of the market place, including in Ohio today. Now, some Republicans are calling for a short-term solution to stabilize the markets.

“What’s Plan B if we can’t get something more comprehensive?” Senator Ron Johnson asked.

“We’re running out of time in terms of stabilizing the markets…you really need to fish or cut bait here on something short term to stabilize the markets,” he said.