Palmer votes for Republican bill to lower health care premiums

December 18, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Gary Palmer (AL-06) voted in favor of the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act. Following the passage of the bill, Rep. Palmer released the following statement:

"As discovered in a recent GAO report, the Democrats' Unaffordable Care Act is riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse," said Rep. Palmer. "The Biden administration's COVID-19 credits only made it worse. Real reforms must be made to our broken health care system to expand choice, restore integrity, and lower premium costs for Americans. The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act is a great start to accomplishing these goals, and I look forward to passing more legislation to further reform our health care system when Congress returns in the new year."

Democrats pushed the Affordable Care Act, promising the American public that it would lower health care costs, but instead costs have skyrocketed, and so has fraud. The GAO released a report uncovering massive fraud within the current Affordable Care Act Marketplace. The GAO report found that the fraud totaled $27 billion per year in improper payments, including $94 million being sent to insurers on behalf of dead people. Read the full report here.

On Wednesday, the House passed the Republican-backed health care bill, called the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, which aims to expand association health plans, lower premiums for some Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollees, and reform pharmacy benefit managers to reduce drug costs.

Controversially, the bill notably excludes an extension of the enhanced ACA tax credits that currently help millions of Americans afford coverage. This omission has sparked significant controversy, as those subsidies are set to expire at the end of December, potentially leading to steep premium increases for more than 20 million people who rely on the marketplace insurance.

The bill passed narrowly, 216–21.

The GOP leadership argues the measure addresses the "real drivers" of health care costs and benefits all Americans. Moderate Republicans have broken ranks, joining with Democrats in a discharge petition to force a vote on extending the subsidies for three years. That vote is expected in January, after the subsidies have already expired.

The legislation now heads to the Senate, where its prospects are uncertain. Without Senate Republicans voting to eliminate the filibuster, it appears likely that the legislation will fail due to the 60 vote threshold need to kill a filibuster.

(A.I. contributed to this report.)

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