GOP faces voter anger on healthcare

The first caller on a telephone town hall with Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, leader of the House's conservative Freedom Caucus, came ready with a question about the Affordable Care Act.

- BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI AND ALI SWENSON

HOUSE Speaker Mike Johnson, seen Friday, said Monday that Republicans are "grabbing the best ideas that we've had for years" to address healthcare costs.

Her cousin's disabled son is at risk of losing the insurance he gained under that law, the caller said.

"Now she's looking at two or three times the premium that she's been paying for the insurance," said the woman, identified as Lisa from Harford County, Md. "I'd love for you to elucidate what the Republicans' plan is for health insurance."

Harris, a seven-term Republican, didn't have a clear answer. "We think the solution is to try to do something to make sure all the premiums go down," he said, predicting Congress would "probably negotiate some offramp" later.

His uncertainty reflected a familiar Republican dilemma: Fifteen years after the Affordable Care Act was enacted, the party remains united in criticizing the law but divided on how to move forward. That tension has come into sharp focus during the government shutdown as Democrats seize on rising premiums to pressure Republicans into extending expiring subsidies for the law, often referred to as Obamacare.

President Trump and GOP leaders say they'll consider extending the enhanced tax credits that otherwise expire at year's endbut only after Democrats vote to reopen the government. In the meantime, people enrolled in the plans are already being notified of hefty premium increases for 2026.

As town halls fill with frustrated voters and no clear Republican plan emerges, the issue appears to be gaining political strength heading into next year's midterm elections.