ACA subsidies on the line as senators trade jabs before Thursday vote

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00:00A high-stakes health care fight is about to break open on Capitol Hill, with dueling plans from

00:07Republicans and Democrats heading for back-to-back votes on Thursday, and neither side is expected

00:13to hit 60. Republicans walked out of their lunch Tuesday ready to push their own proposal,

00:19a bill from Senators Cassidy and Crapo that doesn't extend the expiring ACA subsidies,

00:24but instead sends that money straight into health savings accounts for people on bronze-level

00:29plans. Here's the majority leader. This is a failed program, and it does nothing but drive

00:35premiums up, and the increase in premiums, who's that going to? That's going to the insurance

00:40companies. So the proposal we'll put out there will bring insurance premiums down, it will be

00:46fiscally responsible, and it'll get us away from the practice of giving the money all to the insurance

00:50companies and put it back in the hands of the patients. John Thune says the GOP plan saves money

00:56and lowers costs, while Democrats, he argues, are staging a show vote to extend the current subsidies

01:03for three more years. Those subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, now just three

01:08weeks away, a change that could mean double-digit premium increases for millions of Americans.

01:13Here's Senator Richard Blumenthal.

01:14The American people are not dumb. They see that these sham proposals for health care savings

01:24accounts and tax credits are simply a ruse and a sham by Republicans to disguise the fact they are

01:33blocking extension health care subsidies that make insurance affordable. Democrats say their plan is

01:40the fastest, cleanest fix. No gimmicks, no strings, and everyone in their caucus is on board. Republicans,

01:47meanwhile, are scrambling for unity, even floating several competing ideas in recent days. But with 53

01:53GOP seats, no proposal, Democratic or Republican, is expected to cross the necessary 60-vote finish line

02:00for passage. Tomorrow, side-by-side votes will, however, force every senator to take a position

02:06before premium spike.