By A.G. Gancarski, Florida PoliticsTop of Form
(Source: The Miami Times)
As Democrats hold firm on forcing Republicans to make health care tax credits permanent amid a government shutdown, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is wondering where Democrats’ urgency was when they controlled the government.
“If the Democrats were so concerned about this when Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were running Congress, they could have made them permanent,” Donalds said on “The Evening Edit” regarding the Affordable Care Act Enhanced Premium Tax Credits.
“They chose not to and the reason they didn’t make it permanent is because they wanted to wield it as a political weapon against the American people and against the federal government,” he argued.
The shutdown of the federal government is now well into its second week, with health insurance subsidies the major issue of contention in the Senate, which needs to find 60 votes for a continuing resolution that the House already passed.
“House Republicans, we did our job, we funded the government,” Donalds said.
But he acknowledged that the House product isn’t close to passing the upper chamber.
“You have three Senate Democrats who are voting with Republicans to keep the government open. But the Democrats are holding the government hostage so they can try to get some political win when their entire agenda has been nothing but failure because when they were in complete control of Washington, everything was going wrong,” Donalds said.
“The American people see through it. House Republicans are going to stay firm, we’ve done our job.”
Donalds’ confidence in the House position is rooted in the fact that a simple majority is all that’s necessary for a CR in the lower chamber.
But it also stems from his belief that young people would rather take their chances without insurance than pay for policies that are “not affordable.”
“People are not getting the health care that they need,” Donalds said.
“They wanted young people to go into these pools. But the young people are like, ‘I’m not paying these outrageous premiums just to say that I have a health care policy.’ They would rather go to urgent care or find some other means to take care of their health care that they think is right, the best way they can.”
The policy dispute comes as state legislators are forced to grapple with the ugly reality of costs imposed on them by President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Brian Meyer, Florida’s Medicaid Director, told the House Health Care Facilities and Systems Subcommittee this week that federal legislation passed earlier this year will cut $3.8 billion from Florida’s health care system, with that money primarily affecting Florida hospitals.
Meanwhile, polling suggests that the longer the impasse persists, the more vulnerable it makes U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody on the 2026 ballot.
While Moody has a 7-point lead over potential Democratic opponent Jennifer Jenkins, a former School Board member from Brevard County, the survey found broad support for an extension of subsidies.
The poll shows 73% of all Florida voters want the credits extended. The support includes 85% of self-described moderates, 77% of independents and even 60% of Republicans, the poll found.
