Johnson’s accusation cuts to the core of a long-simmering fight: whether Washington should keep pouring money into the existing system or force it to change. By his telling, Democrats quietly moved to extend pandemic-era subsidies that shield consumers in the short term
but ultimately funnel billions to insurers without addressing the drivers of soaring premiums. Republicans, he insists, had drafted reforms to reduce costs by over 12 percent, only to see them stripped out in negotiations that favored speed over substance.
