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“The problem is that we are subsidizing very wealthy insurance companies,” Johnson said. “That is not helping costs go down. It’s driving premiums up even higher. So, Republicans want to fix the broken system.”
He argued that Democrats deliberately stripped out cost-cutting provisions that could have saved Americans money. “We don’t want to throw good money at a broken and failing system. And the Affordable Care Act has been that since it was signed into law, passed by the Democrats alone back in 2010,” he added.
Johnson said Republicans had included a proposal in their bill that would have reduced premiums by 12.7 percent — until Democrats “fought to take it out.”
“But the Democrats fought to take it out of the bill,” he said. “So, if they cared so much about healthcare costs, they shouldn’t be fighting provisions like that.”
Republicans Push for Real Reform
The Louisiana Republican said his caucus is preparing new legislation aimed at reducing healthcare costs rather than throwing more subsidies at an inefficient system. “We’re putting together some ideas that will drive the premiums down because healthcare is too expensive in this country,” he explained. “It’s too expensive because the Democrats built a system that doesn’t work.”
Johnson warned that Democrats’ approach — using federal subsidies to mask the real cost of healthcare — is unsustainable. “Merely subsidizing something is not the answer. When the government subsidizes something, it almost always means it’s not working. And that’s the problem,” he said.
With those pandemic subsidies set to expire on December 31, Johnson said the issue is “an urgent matter for us,” stressing that Republicans had already tried to address it months ago. “It’s an urgent matter for us, and it has been, which is why we put it into the bill that we passed in the early summer. And the Democrats fought to take it out.”
Battle Lines Drawn Before Year’s End
Johnson said Republicans will reintroduce their proposals in the coming weeks. “We’re reintroducing some of these ideas,” he said. “There’s a lot of ideas on how to drive the cost down, and we have November and December to work on that.”
He added that while bipartisan cooperation will be necessary, Democrats haven’t brought any serious reform plans to the table. “The Democrats, this is very important to point out, they don’t have any reform ideas at all. Their argument is they want a completely unreformed continuation,” he said. “They would do it permanently, most of them on government just subsidizing the insurance companies. And that is not the solution.”
Johnson promised Republicans would keep Americans informed as they push for genuine solutions. “We’re going to be educating the population, and along the way, as we do this, come up with reforms that will actually solve the problem and not make it worse.”
Meanwhile, Johnson told Fox News that GOP lawmakers should prepare to return to Washington for a midweek vote to reopen the government. “We’re going to plan on voting, on being here, at least by Wednesday,” he said. “It is possible that things could shift a little bit later in the week, but right now we think we’re on track for a vote on Wednesday. So we need you here.”
As Washington braces for another budget battle, Johnson made clear that Republicans aren’t backing down — and they’re ready to expose every “poison pill” Democrats try to hide in the process.
