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

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

00:12side is expected to hit 60. Republicans walked out of their lunch Tuesday ready to push their

00:18own proposal, a bill from Senators Cassidy and Crapo that doesn't extend the expiring ACA

00:23subsidies, but instead sends that money straight into health savings accounts for people on bronze

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

00:35drive premiums 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

00:45be fiscally responsible, and it'll get us away from the practice of giving the money all to

00:50the insurance companies and put it back in the hands of the patients. John Thune says the

00:55GOP plan saves money and lowers costs, while Democrats, he argues, are staging a show vote

01:01to extend the current subsidies for three more years. Those subsidies are set to expire at

01:06the end of the year, now just three weeks away, a change that could mean double-digit premium

01:11increases for millions of Americans. Here's Senator Richard Blumenthal.

01:15The 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

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

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

01:46Republicans, meanwhile, are scrambling for unity, even floating several competing ideas in recent days.

01:52But with 53 GOP seats, no proposal, Democratic or Republican, is expected to cross the necessary

01:5960-vote finish line for passage. Tomorrow, side-by-side votes will, however,

02:04force every senator to take a position before premiums spike.

02:10Good night.