WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Seventeen Republicans joined all 213 Democrats in the U.S. House on Thursday to pass a bill to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years.
The bill was passed 230-196 in the lower chamber, a few days after the enhanced subsidies lapsed at the end of 2025.
The House-passed bill now heads to the Senate, where pressure is mounting for senators to act.
Recently, the debate over whether to extend these subsidies has become a central point of contention between the two parties.
Back in September, the Democrats advocated including the extension in a funding bill, while the Republicans insisted passing a temporary "clean" funding bill at existing spending levels and allow more time for negotiation.
The deadlock between the two sides led to the longest U.S. federal government shutdown in history, lasting from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12 in 2025.
Democrats agreed to end the shutdown after Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised Senate Democrats a vote "no later than the second week in December" on enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies. However, the Senate did not advance a related bill in the subsequent vote.
The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, has about 24 million enrollees, 22 million of whom are eligible for enhanced subsidies that help lower their premiums. ■