Republicans scramble for health care plan, as Democrats eye midterm battle

(CNN) — Republicans in Washington successfully defused the 43-day government shutdown without surrendering to Democrats’ demands to spend billions more to offset spiking health insurance costs.

Now, the GOP is under mounting pressure to figure out its own plan.

Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire in just weeks – which would more than double the cost of premiums nationally for tens of millions of Americans. And it’s causing deep anxiety among some in the party, particularly in battleground seats, who worry Republicans will end up doing nothing to prevent those price hikes and enter a critical midterm year with the issue of health care haunting them once again.

GOP leaders in the House have begun work on their own package, which is unlikely to extend those subsid