Sen. Mark Kelly expects health care vote in December after bipartisan negotiations

PHOENIX – U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said Wednesday that Congress will vote on a plan to address health care costs next month after bipartisan negotiations take place.

Democrats were hoping to extend expiring health insurance tax subsidies as a condition of ending the recent shutdown, but Republicans didn’t make any concessions, saying they would address it after the government reopened.

Kelly told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News that Democrats still want to save tax credits for policies purchased through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, but other solutions could be on the table.

“We’re willing to have bipartisan talks on this and try to figure out other ways to strengthen health care and try to incorporate some of the ideas that the Republicans have on this,” he said. “We’ll eventually have a vote in December, and the American people will be able to see where my Republican colleagues stand on trying to make health care more affordable.”

Sen. Mark Kelly says nation’s health care issues go beyond ACA subsidies

Kelly accused Republicans of sacrificing the ACA tax credits earlier this year to help extend tax cuts that benefit wealthy Americans.

“That’s also why in 2026, after the (midterm) election, millions of people are going to get kicked off of Medicaid,” he said. “It was all to give a big tax cut to millionaires and billionaires. That’s why we’re in this situation. We’ll have an opportunity in December to fix a piece of this.”

Arizona’s senior senator said that while the ACA has helped millions of Americans get insurance, the nation’s health care system still has many problems Congress could address.

“But the thing we do not want to do right now is make it so unaffordable for the American people that they lose their health insurance and then they have to make decisions, horrible decision sometimes, and it puts people into bankruptcy,” Kelly said.

What does Sen. Mark Kelly think about president’s health care idea?

President Donald Trump has said that he’d rather see money given directly to consumers to help pay for their insurance premiums rather than subsidize the ACA.

“THE ONLY HEALTHCARE I WILL SUPPORT OR APPROVE IS SENDING THE MONEY DIRECTLY BACK TO THE PEOPLE, WITH NOTHING GOING TO THE BIG, FAT, RICH INSURANCE COMPANIES, WHO HAVE MADE $TRILLIONS, AND RIPPED OFF AMERICA LONG ENOUGH. THE PEOPLE WILL BE ALLOWED TO NEGOTIATE AND BUY THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, INSURANCE. POWER TO THE PEOPLE! Congress, do not waste your time and energy on anything else,” Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social.

Kelly has problems with that approach.

“I’m not so sure that that addresses the problem, because in some cases people aren’t going to use that money to purchase health care,” the Arizona Democrat said. “And then … they could wind up in a situation where they’re sick and then have to use the emergency room instead of going to a doctor. So, I’m not so sure that that’s the best solution here.”

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