Magnolia State News
Hyde-Smith urges bipartisan effort on Affordable Care Act reforms
By Magnolia State News
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) has called for renewed bipartisan negotiations to address the rising costs and persistent fraud in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. Her remarks came after the Senate failed to pass either a Republican or Democratic plan to extend ACA subsidies, which currently cost taxpayers about $35 billion annually.
Both the Health Care Freedom for Patients Act of 2025 (S.3386), led by Republicans, and the Schumer Three-Year Biden COVID-Era Subsidy Extension (S.3385), supported by Democrats, did not reach the required sixty votes to move forward. Hyde-Smith backed the Republican proposal and opposed the Democratic plan.
“Democrats quietly admit that the system is failing and that the Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable. The responsible Republican plan I supported today would have begun to lower healthcare costs for American families and provide a window for us to work together to find better ways to provide healthcare insurance. I see that as a better option than just throwing more money – $83 billion, in fact – to continue a flawed program for another three years. Senator Schumer’s cynically partisan plan does nothing to help fix what ails the system, period,” Hyde-Smith said.
“I know many Mississippians rely on Obamacare and the subsidies that Democrats alone passed to prop up the system, but we must do better. Escalating costs and growing evidence of fraud make the ACA unsupportable over the long term,” Hyde-Smith added. “We must find a workable alternative that provides good coverage without breaking the bank or profiting swindlers.”
The Republican-backed S.3386, introduced by Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), aims to shift authority and funding away from large insurance companies toward patients.
According to Hyde-Smith, temporary subsidies enacted during COVID-19 were never intended as permanent measures and have been extended without bipartisan support or added safeguards against fraud.