The Senate has rejected legislation to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, essentially guaranteeing that millions of Americans will see a steep rise in costs at the beginning of the year.
You can focus on and fault the decision here, but the actual systemic failure is that a decision on the subsidies should have been finalized well ahead of the open enrollment start date, which was nearly six weeks ago on November 1st, 2025. The federal government has failed us (Republican controlled at this time so no surprise there) by waiting until there’s less than 4 days for American citizens to make a decision – the deadline is literally December 15th, 2025.
You can focus on and fault the decision here, but the actual systemic failure is that a decision on the subsidies should have been finalized well ahead of the open enrollment start date, which was nearly six weeks ago on November 1st, 2025. The federal government has failed us (Republican controlled at this time so no surprise there) by waiting until there’s less than 4 days for American citizens to make a decision – the deadline is literally December 15th, 2025.