Majority Leader | Research | The Leader Board | THE NEWSR...Skip to primary navigation Skip to content×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNE×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNExxsearchxMENUFacebookXInstagramFacebookXInstagramVisit Leader Thune's South Dakota Site Here THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNExxsearchxMENUHomeTHE NEWSROOMThe Leader Board12.09.25Democrats’ Unserious Health Care Proposal Would Keep Costs High and Waste Taxpayer DollarsAfter Instigating the Longest Government Shutdown in History Over Health Care, Democrats Are Putting Forward a Bill That Keeps Health Care Costs High and Enshrines Rampant Waste, Fraud, and Abuse of Taxpayers’ Hard-Earned Money AS THE FINAL ACT OF DEMOCRATS’ HISTORIC GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, THE SENATE WILL VOTE ON DEMOCRATS’ BILL TO EXTEND WASTEFUL AND INEFFECTIVE COVID-ERA SUBSIDIES“The Senate plans to vote this week on a proposal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years. Fortunately this misguided legislation is certain to fail.” (The Washington Post: Editorial: Obamacare subsidies make it too easy to scam the system – 12/8/25)“Senate Majority Leader John Thune committed to giving Democrats a vote on healthcare legislation under an agreement last month to end a record 43-day government shutdown.” (Reuters: US Senate Democrats renew bid to extend Obamacare subsidies – 12/4/25)“Democrats instigated the shutdown to pressure Republicans into extending the subsidies, which expire at the end of this year.” (Reuters: US Senate Democrats renew bid to extend Obamacare subsidies – 12/4/25)Both before and during Democrats’ government shutdown, Leader Thune offered to work with Democrats and even offered a vote on their plan several times:“So I hope they will come to us with a suggestion, a solution about how to address it.” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) (9/3/25)“We need a handful of Democrats to join Republicans to reopen the government. And once we do that, then we can talk about the issues that Democrats are raising...” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) (10/1/25)“Now, once we get the government back open, then we can talk about the issues that Democrats are raising. But we can’t do that while they’re holding the federal government hostage to their partisan demands.” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) (10/3/25)“I’m not sure how much clearer I can be, but let me give it a try: I am willing to sit down with Democrats to discuss the growing unaffordability and unsustainability of Obamacare. It’s a system they created, but I’m happy to hear them out. Heck, I’m even willing to give them a vote. Today. Tomorrow. Next week. You name it. But there’s one condition: End the Schumer Shutdown. I will not negotiate under hostage conditions, nor will I pay a ransom. Period.” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) (10/17/25)DEMOCRATS’ PROPOSED EXTENSION OF BIDEN’S COVID BONUSES WOULD SPEND TENS OF BILLIONS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS AND DO NOTHING TO LOWER HEALTH CARE COSTS FOR AMERICANS(Click here to download)“The real problem is that the Affordable Care Act was never actually affordable.” (The Washington Post: Editorial: The shutdown conversation no one wants – 10/5/25)“In other words, Obamacare has been an engine of insurance premium inflation. Democrats have tried to cover up that fact with ever more taxpayer subsidies.” (Forbes: How Obamacare Set In Motion Today’s Premium Crisis – 10/14/25)“Supporters of Obamacare promised that the legislation would cut family premiums by $2,500. Instead, its mix of mandates and pricing restrictions sharply increased individual market premiums.” (Paragon Health Institute: Holding Firm on the COVID Credits, Subsidizing Unauthorized Immigrants’ Health Care, and a Part D Policy Brief – 10/15/25)The Congressional Budget Office projected that a “permanent extension of the subsidies would cost $335 billion over the next ten years.” (Kaiser Family Foundation: Inflation Reduction Act Health Insurance Subsidies: What is Their Impact and What Would Happen if They Expire? – 7/26/24)Premiums for the average Obamacare enrollee have increased 221% between 2013 and 2026. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Individual Market Premium Changes: 2013 – 2017 – 5/23/17; Paragon Health Institute: Almost Entire Obamacare Premium Increases Paid for By Taxpayers – accessed 12/9/25)The expiration of Biden’s COVID bonuses accounts for only a small fraction of expected premium increases next year:(Paragon Health Institute: Obamacare 2026 Premiums Largely Unaffected by Expiration of Biden’s COVID Credits – accessed 12/9/25)DEMOCRATS’ PLAN ALSO DOES NOTHING TO ADDRESS THE RAMPANT WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE WITHIN OBAMACARE AND BIDEN’S COVID BONUSES SCHEME“Affordable Care Act subsidies have been granted, without the required documentation, to 90% of fictitious applicants over the last two years, according to a damning government watchdog report released Wednesday.” (New York Post: Obamacare subsidies granted without documentation to 90% of fake accounts set up by government watchdog – 12/3/25)“The GAO [Government Accountability Office] last fall began an undercover test in which it submitted insurance applications for fictitious individuals to the federal ObamaCare exchange and insurance brokers. Nearly all of its invented people were able to enroll in subsidized plans despite submitting false or no records to verify their identities and incomes. Of GAO’s 24 applications, 23 were approved.” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: ObamaCare Is a Mecca for Fraud – 12/7/25)“Eighteen enrollees were still covered as of September, suggesting that the exchange and insurers didn’t verify information even after enrollment. The subsidies paid to insurance companies for those 18 applicants totalled more than $10,000 per month, equivalent to a $6,700 annual subsidy for each enrollee.” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: ObamaCare Is a Mecca for Fraud – 12/7/25)“GAO also analyzed enrollment data in 2023 and 2024 for data anomalies. It found more than 29,000 Social Security numbers in 2023 and nearly 68,000 in 2024 that were used to receive more than one year’s worth of insurance coverage with subsidies in a single year—meaning the same Social Security number was used by more than one person.” (The Wall Street Journal: Editorial: ObamaCare Is a Mecca for Fraud – 12/7/25)“The Biden administration has made ObamaCare even more wasteful than it already was. A new Paragon analysis estimates that five million enrollees are receiving health-insurance subsidies well above the amounts to which they are legally entitled.” (The Wall Street Journal: Op-ed: The $20 Billion ObamaCare Subsidy Fraud – 6/19/24)“The subsidy amount is largely determined by income, so that brokers and insurers alike financially benefit if applicants misstate their incomes. The administration, seeking to inflate coverage numbers, has prioritized enrollment over the program’s integrity. That has fostered fraudulent spending, which we estimate at $20 billion in 2024.” (The Wall Street Journal: Op-ed: The $20 Billion ObamaCare Subsidy Fraud – 6/19/24)“Biden’s COVID credits—pandemic-era subsidy add-ons that made many exchange plans ‘free’—drove massive improper enrollment. Paragon estimates 6.4 million people were placed in the fully subsidized 100 to 150 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) category after the 2025 open enrollment period, despite not having that income.” (Paragon Health Institute: Don’t Believe AHIP – Improper and Phantom Obamacare Enrollees Are Both Major Problems – 8/20/25)“Newly released Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data shows that 35 percent of individual market enrollees had zero claims in 2024. This percentage contrasts with about 15 percent of privately insured non-elderly adults who typically have no claims in a year.” (Paragon Health Institute: Don’t Believe AHIP – Improper and Phantom Obamacare Enrollees Are Both Major Problems – 8/20/25)“Roughly 40 percent of enrollees with a fully subsidized, extremely low cost-sharing plan filed no claims in 2024—double the percentage from three years earlier.” (Paragon Health Institute: Don’t Believe AHIP – Improper and Phantom Obamacare Enrollees Are Both Major Problems – 8/20/25)“This improper enrollment was fueled by fraud schemes run through enrollment intermediaries, enriching insurers that pocketed subsidies for people who never used their plan.” (Paragon Health Institute: Don’t Believe AHIP – Improper and Phantom Obamacare Enrollees Are Both Major Problems – 8/20/25)PrintEmailTweetNextPreviousTHE NEWSROOMSENATE RESOURCESABOUT LEADER THUNEFacebookXInstagram
