Senate heads toward dueling partisan votes on health care, with each likely to fail

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and ALI SWENSON

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is heading toward dueling partisan votes on health care this week after Republicans said Tuesday that they had united around a plan, for now, that would allow COVID-era health care subsidies to expire.

Both the Republican plan, which would replace the subsidies with new savings accounts, and a Democratic bill to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years lack the bipartisan support needed for passage. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday that the Democratic legislation does not include enough reforms to curb fraud or limit high-income recipients. That legislation “will fail,” Thune said.

At the same time, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the Republican plan “phony” and s