House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, speaks to the media in Statuary Hall after the House voted 222-209 to pass the Senate's funding deal on Nov. 12, 2025.

WASHINGTON – House Republicans have released a legislative proposal aimed at making health care more affordable but without extending premiums under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which Democrats advocated.

Lawmakers are scrambling to assemble a health care program that could win approval in the narrowly divided Congress because Obamacare subsidies are set to expire Dec. 31. Without an extension, premiums are projected to double on average for 24 million Americans.

A House vote could come in the next week. But lawmakers remain sharply divided over health care, after a Democratic demand to extend Obamacare led to the longest government shutdown in history.

Republicans oppose Obamacare while Democrats are urging a three-year extension of subsidies. The Senate on Dec. 11 rejected proposals from both parties as the clock ticks down on the year.

The House Rules Committee is set to meet Dec. 16 to decide whether to allow amendments such as a proposal to extend Obamacare subsidies. A full House vote could come later in the week.

But even if House Republicans unite behind the proposal, its chances are dimmer in the Senate. The bill would need the support of 60 senators in a chamber with 53 Republicans and 47 lawmakers who caucus with Democrats.

The House GOP proposal aims to lower costs and improve options for workers.

On the cost side, the legislation would require pharmacy benefit managers to provide employers with detained information about prescription drug spending, rebates and formulary decisions about which drugs are available. The bill also pledges to provide funding in 2027 to reduce premiums, particularly for low-income enrollees.

To provide more options, the legislation would expand association health plans by allowing employers to join together across industries to buy affordable coverage.

The bill aims to protect small and mid-sized employers from catastrophic claims by clarifying that stop-loss insurance isn’t health insurance. And the bill would codify 2019 rules allow employees to buy their own insurance and pay for premiums with before-tax income.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said in announcing the GOP proposal that Obamacare “broke the American health care system” with skyrocketing premiums.

“Since its inception, premium costs have skyrocketed, networks have shrunk, and the system has become bloated, inefficient, and riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse,” Johnson said.

But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, told MSNOW that the GOP bill “is likely to be a disaster and actually not enhance the health care of the American people.”

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House GOP offers health care bill without Obamacare subsidies

Reporting by Bart Jansen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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