Parliamentarian Blocks GOP Move to Strip ACA Abortion Coverage Subsidies
Senate Parliamentarian strikes down GOP attempts to limit abortion coverage subsidies and student aid access in sweeping budget bill rulings
In a pivotal ruling on Wednesday, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected a Republican-led provision that sought to bar federal subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from supporting health plans that cover abortion services. The decision marks a significant win for reproductive rights advocates and Democrats as Republicans push a sweeping budget reconciliation bill through the Senate.
The blocked provision would have prevented ACA cost-sharing subsidies from being applied to health insurance plans offering abortion services — a move that could have had profound implications for access to care in roughly a dozen states. According to an analysis by the Commonwealth Fund, states such as Connecticut, Michigan, and New Mexico — where insurers voluntarily include abortion coverage — would have faced pressure to drop such services to retain federal subsidy eligibility.
“This would’ve had an outsized impact on access to abortion in key states,” said a spokesperson from the Commonwealth Fund. “It would have weaponized federal aid to coerce insurers into cutting reproductive care.”
MacDonough also struck down another key GOP provision targeting the ACA: the proposed elimination of silver loading. Under the current structure, insurers are allowed to increase premiums to compensate for federal subsidies, resulting in larger tax credits and broader affordability. The nonpartisan Brookings Institution warned that removing this practice could significantly raise costs for enrollees, while the Congressional Budget Office estimated that hundreds of thousands could lose coverage if silver loading ends.
In a broader defense of education access, MacDonough rejected sections of the GOP bill that would have rescinded federal student aid eligibility for certain non-citizens — including refugees, those granted asylum, and others paroled into the U.S. — a group the Department of Education currently recognizes as eligible for assistance. Another blocked provision would have expanded Pell Grants to programs offered by unaccredited and for-profit institutions, a move widely criticized for potentially opening doors to abuse and poor educational outcomes.
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, welcomed the rulings. “The Byrd Rule must be enforced,” Merkley said, referring to the procedural standard that governs what can be included in reconciliation bills. “Republicans shouldn’t get away with circumventing the rules of reconciliation. Democrats will continue to make the case against every provision in this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill that violates Senate rules and hurts families, students, and workers.”
Despite the setbacks, Senate Republicans are still refining the reconciliation package, which Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) intends to bring to the floor by Friday. Key rulings still await from the parliamentarian on the bill’s core tax and Medicaid provisions.
The outcome of those decisions could reshape the final contours of a bill already drawing fierce ideological lines — between a Republican-led austerity drive and a Democratic defense of healthcare and education access.