Politics
Mike Johnson Says Democrats ‘Broke’ U.S. Health Care
By Jake Beardslee · December 2, 2025
Republican leaders in Congress remain opposed to restoring the pandemic-era expansion of Affordable Care Act subsidies, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday, signaling a unified GOP stance against extending the enhanced Premium Tax Credits.
Johnson argued that Democrats, not Republicans, are responsible for the current state of the U.S. health care system. “Health care is a very complex issue. And I want to point this out, it is not the Republicans who broke American health care,” Johnson told reporters. “The Democrats broke health care when they created the unaffordable care act 15 years ago…They broke the system, and every time the Democrats have gone in to try to subsidize the broken system, they’ve spent more and more taxpayer dollars and they’ve been wasted.”
Talks around health care policy have escalated in recent months, following a 43-day government shutdown prompted by Democratic demands to continue the enhanced ACA subsidies. The Premium Tax Credit, created under the Affordable Care Act and temporarily expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, sends money directly to insurance companies, which must use 80% to reduce enrollees’ monthly premiums and may keep the remaining 20% for profit and administrative costs.
The subsidy expansion is set to expire in less than a month, reverting to its pre-pandemic formula. That shift is expected to contribute to higher marketplace premiums in 2026 for Affordable Care Act enrollees.
Republicans argue that the enhanced credits disproportionately benefit insurers, allow more opportunities for fraud, and have not meaningfully reduced premiums. Extending the program would cost at least $350 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Johnson said Republicans are working to consolidate their ideas into a broader health care proposal before bringing any legislation to the House floor. “I can’t project in advance what that will be because I don’t know what the consensus is in that room. But you will see our sleeves being rolled up and that work being done in earnest this week as we bring all that together,” he said. “We’re going to improve the system for Americans and we have good ideas to do it. We have a lot of thoughtful people working on this.”
Democrats have criticized Republicans for failing to introduce substantial reform legislation, even as open enrollment for ACA plans is underway.
Johnson’s comments come after he rejected a not-yet-released White House proposal that would have paired a two-year subsidy extension with GOP-favored policy provisions. He dismissed any extension of the enhanced PTC as “doubling down on the broken system.”