All of Michigan's Democratic representatives voted against the spending bill that reopened the federal government Wednesday night. All of the state's Republican representatives voted yes.
Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI 6) said the bill failed to acknowledge that the country is facing a healthcare crisis, and she said the GOP needs to get serious in helping to find a solution.
“In this country we spend twice as much as any other industrialized nation and we have worse outcomes. We need to fix a broken system," she said.
Dingell, whose district centers on Ann Arbor, said expiring health insurance subsidies and increasing insurance premiums will force people to abandon insurance coverage.
Democrats had refused to vote on federal funding bills unless they were accompanied by legislation to extend those insurance subsidies, but a small group broke from the party and aligned with Republicans to pass Wednesday night's spending bill.
Senate Republican leadership has promised to hold a vote on extending the health insurance subsidies next month. House Republican leadership has made no such promise, though they have said they're planning listening sessions on health care policy and the expiring subsidies.
The deal to end the longest federal government shutdown in history does include legislation to fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits into next year.
