Senate heads toward dueling partisan votes on healthcare, with each likely to fail

The Senate is heading toward dueling partisan votes on health care this week after Republicans said Tuesday that they had united around a plan, for now, that would allow COVID-era health care subsidies to expire. Both the Republican plan, which would replace the subsidies with new savings accounts, and a Democratic bill to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years lack the bipartisan support needed for passage. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday that the Democratic legislation does not include enough reforms to curb fraud or limit high-income recipients. That legislation 'will fail,' Thune said. At the same time, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the Republican plan 'phony' and said the bill is 'dead on arrival.'