It was hardly surprising when the Republican-controlled Congress adjourned for the year without extending the tax credits that have helped millions of Americans pay for their health insurance.
The current fight fits the pattern of congressional battles on health care for nearly a century: Democrats trying to expand the government’s role in protecting health; Republicans resisting.
What was surprising was when four moderate Republicans, their seats endangered next November, joined House Democrats to force a vote in January on a three-year extension of the credits. But the Senate has already rejected that, so at least nine GOP senators would have to change their positions for it to have a chance.
It’s always possible that a flood of protests after the subsidies expire next week could persuade some resistant Republicans, or that a bipartisan compromise would emerge for a shorter extension.
But that remains unlikely given GOP majorities divided over the issue and a Republican president who denounces the Affordable Care Act and makes vague, unfulfilled promises to present his own plan.