Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
The Senate parliamentarian has ruled that funding ACA cost-sharing reduction payments in reconciliation, and prohibiting the money from going to plans that cover abortions, violate the Byrd Rule and are subject to a 60-vote threshold, according to Budget Committee Democrats.
Why it matters: Funding CSRs would actually lower the federal subsidies that help people afford premiums, by lowering the benchmark silver premiums used to set the subsidy amounts.
- Not funding CSRs would mean ACA subsidies stay higher through the process known as "silver-loading."
Driving the news: The statement from the Democrats doesn't say why funding CSRs was found to violate reconciliation rules.
- Invalidating the abortion restrictions was expected, since it could be viewed as making policy and not strictly budget-related.
Republicans could still try to tweak legislative language to make it conform, though it's not clear whether that will happen here.
