Rep. Rich McCormick didn’t mince words on Newsmax’s Wake Up America when he tore into Democratic efforts to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies without tackling the law’s fundamental failures. He warned that a “clean” extension is just a political Band-Aid that will kick today’s problems down the road while empowering special interests and bureaucrats.
Democrats are pushing a three-year extension of enhanced tax credits as though money alone solves broken incentives, and Senate leaders like Chuck Schumer have made that their talking point heading into the end-of-year fights. McCormick and other Republicans rightly argue that pouring more taxpayer dollars into the current system will only send premiums and insurer profits higher without giving Americans better care or more control.
House Republican leaders have repeatedly called out this political theater, pointing out that Democrats want to turn emergency spending into a permanent entitlement while refusing basic reforms like eligibility verification and means-testing. Speaker and House negotiators have underscored the unfairness of subsidizing wealthy households at taxpayers’ expense, and McCormick echoed that sense of betrayal toward ordinary taxpayers.
Conservative lawmakers have alternatives on the table that actually aim to restore market discipline — proposals that tighten subsidy rules, incentivize personal responsibility, and steer dollars into health savings vehicles so patients, not insurance CEOs, make choices. This is not radical; it’s common sense to insist money be targeted to those who truly need it and to stop rewarding rent-seeking behavior in the health insurance industry.
McCormick, who has also been pushing a Medical Professional Access Act to cut red tape in emergencies, ties fiscal sanity to better care: you cannot keep expanding entitlement spending and expect prices to fall or access to improve. His message is blunt — stop the giveaways and start fixing what’s broken in the system so care becomes more affordable and more available where it’s actually needed.
What’s striking is the pattern: when the policy collapses under its own weight, Democrats reflexively blame Republicans for refusing to rubber-stamp more money. That dodge might work in soundbites, but it won’t balance budgets, lower premiums, or stop insurers from gaming the system. Responsible leadership means reform before renewal, not the other way around.
Congressional Republicans should stand firm and demand meaningful fixes instead of capitulating to a bailout for lobbyists and well-off beneficiaries. If lawmakers want to defend working families and protect taxpayers, they must make reform the price of any extension — otherwise we’ll only fuel the next round of crises while Democrats chalk it up to partisan obstruction.
