reSee.it Video Transcript AI Summary
Speaker 0 and Speaker 1 discuss a written proposal regarding extending Biden-era COVID subsidies under the ACA. Speaker 0 asks if there is a proposal in writing they can read. Speaker 1 confirms there is a simple proposal: two sentences to be added to any proposal that would extend the ACA benefits for one year. He says this would be the right thing to do and could be put into Leader Thune’s open-government proposal, as it “doesn't need a vote. It can't be blocked by anybody.” He notes that the current IAC fix would be without income caps, meaning people who earn very high incomes would continue to receive subsidies, and says they would negotiate once the credits are extended, which he claims the other side previously refused to do.
Speaker 0 questions whether, for one year, people making millions of dollars would still receive the COVID-era subsidies. Speaker 1 responds by saying the senator from Ohio “ignores that 99% of people” and asserts the goal is not to hurt ordinary people but to address the difficulties faced by those paying thousands of dollars more. He says they are willing to fix what was proposed in negotiation, but without hurting everyday people, and asserts he yields the floor.
Speaker 0 asks for clarification of what was heard from the minority leader, to recap for those who missed it. Speaker 1 summarizes: the minority leader acknowledged there is no written proposal from Democrats for people to review; he acknowledged that his plan would allow millionaires to receive Biden-era COVID subsidies, with “no income caps.” Speaker 0 indicates he would have asked further questions if the minority leader had remained, including whether he would continue $0 premiums and whether the funds would go directly to insurance companies. Speaker 1 asserts additional points for emphasis: this money “does not go to people on Obamacare,” it is “a check written from the federal government to the wealthiest insurance companies on the planet,” and the plan would preserve subsidies for millionaires, provide $0 premiums that are alleged to have “enormous levels of fraud,” and “enrich insurance companies even more.”