Now that the federal government is on a path to reopening, where do members of Colorado’s GOP congressional delegation stand on the Obamacare subsidies that Democrats hoped — but failed — to extend amid the government shutdown?
The stakes are high, with tens of thousands of Coloradans potentially losing their health insurance if the subsidies are lost, according to Mannat Singh, executive director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.
“Roughly 80,000 Coloradans will lose coverage if Congress fails to extend the tax credits in December,” said Singh in a statement. “Coloradans can’t afford any more cuts to healthcare. These actions don’t just cause harm now; they have long-term, if not permanent, consequences. Congress needs to ensure that Coloradans can afford to keep their healthcare coverage.”
Republicans in the U.S. Senate have promised a vote on subsidies in December, but no such vote is on the table in the U.S. House.
Two of Colorado’s four Republican House members appear to oppose the subsidies outright. Two others say they’re open to discussing a reduced form of them, but they’re vague about the details and mum on whether they’d push for a House vote.
The two Colorado GOP House members who are clear opponents of the health care subsidies are Reps. Lauren Boebert and Gabe Evans.
Both mostly claim the subsidies are used for undocumented immigrants and should not be renewed.
In fact, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for the subsidies.
“These subsidies that Democrats are talking about are going to illegal immigrants,” said Evans on Fox 31 on Oct. 30. “If we want to get the cost of healthcare down in Colorado, we have to stop paying for illegal immigrants. We have to stop being a sanctuary city and state, and we have to cut the red tape and regulations in Colorado that is strangling our economy to include healthcare.”
He made a similar accusation on Fox 31 at the beginning of the shutdown: “Unfortunately, the Democrats have painted their line in the sand as being they want more money for illegal immigrant healthcare and they do not like funds for things like securing the border right now,” said Evans.
Boebert said the subsidies were going to “illegal aliens health care” and to “able-bodied adults.”
“This was something that we corrected in the Big Beautiful bill and also those COVID-era Obamacare extensions, those enormous subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, and so Democrats right now are decrying health care for illegal aliens and making Americans suffer in the meantime,” said Boebert Oct. 27 on KNUS radio.
The other two Colorado Republicans, Reps. Jeff Crank and Jeff Hurd, have mostly stuck to the message pushed by Washington, D.C. Republicans: Open the government and work on the Obamacare subsidies later.
“We can have discussions about whether an enhanced premium tax credit or whatever is passed later, but we shouldn’t hold federal workers and our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Guardians [Space Force service members] hostage because we’ve got this political disagreement,” said U.S. Rep Jeff Crank (R-CO).
Asked via email for any additional statement on the issue, Crank’s office offered the following statement:
“Right now the top priority is to reopen the government so our military and federal workforce receive their paychecks, and our federal services are up and running,” said Crank. “Once that happens, I anticipate Congress will turn to discussions on whether it’s appropriate to extend Biden-era healthcare subsidies for high-income earners.”
Hurd has said that, when the government opens again, he wants to extend the Obamacare subsidies in some form for two years.
“Hey, let’s get the government back open, and then we can start talking about this,” Hurd told National Public Radio, explaining that he wants to “set reasonable income caps so that the help goes to the families that need it the most. And then we can build in some stronger guardrails so that the system is more accountable. And then Congress can use that breathing room in the next two years to work on long-term reform.”
Hurd has posted a set of principles to move his framework forward, but he has not addressed the obstacle of convincing House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to allow a vote.
Aside from Crank, none of the other members of Colorado’s congressional delegation immediately responded to a request for comment.
RELATED: Democrats Make Case for Health Care Tax Credits as Shutdown Drags On
