A massive $1.3 trillion spending deal does not include legislation intended to stabilize Obamacare’s marketplaces after the bipartisan legislation fell to infighting over abortion restrictions.
The omnibus text released late Wednesday does not include legislation to give states $30 billion over three years to set up a reinsurance program nor fund Obamacare insurer payments for three years.
But support for the legislation crumbled among Democrats after Republicans sought to include stricter language to restrict the new funding from going to cover abortions.
The Congressional Budget Office projected that the provisions would reduce premiums by 20 percent next year on the individual market, which includes Obamacare’s exchanges.
Republicans and Democrats spent Wednesday trading barbs over language called the Hyde Amendment in the new funding.
Republicans charged that Hyde language has been applied as a spending rider to appropriations bills since 1976.
But Hyde doesn’t apply to Obamacare, which instead allows states to opt out of requiring insurers to cover abortions. Under the bill the Republicans were pushing, a state could opt in to force insurers to cover abortions.
Both sides claim that the other did not want to pass a bill to stabilize the healthcare law.
Democrats say Republicans didn’t want to stabilize a law they have fought unsuccessfully to repeal. Some Republicans say that Democrats do not want to pass the legislation so they can blame Republicans for rate increases in the 2018 midterm elections.
Senate leaders have not said if they will take up the legislation separately or vote to add it to the spending bill when it reaches the Senate.
The House is expected to vote on the omnibus Thursday, and the Senate will take it up before the government shuts down Friday at midnight.
