senate republicans They rallied to block Senate Democrats from extending expiring Obamacare subsidies as both parties failed on proposals to deal with the looming health care cliff.

Amid a 43-day government shutdown, Senate Democrats enacted the longest shutdown in history of subsidies that were passed and strengthened under the former president Joe Biden.

They argue that without action by Congress, Americans who rely on subsidies will be hit by soaring premiums. However, their plan would never win approval from a majority of Senate Republicans, who are demanding extensive reforms to the program, which they accuse of being riddled with fraud.

Duels over Obamacare set to fail as deadline approaches, pushing for bipartisan talks in Senate

Senate Democrats’ plan to extend Obamacare subsidies is set to fail as the deadline to extend or replace them approaches. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Only Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Josh HawleyMissouri Republicans broke with Democrats on Thursday, backing their plan in an otherwise party-line vote that left the upper chamber without a solution on a looming deadline to extend or replace subsidies. Still, both parties want to address rising health care costs, but they just can’t agree on the best solution.

“We don’t need to come up with a perfect plan,” Hawley told Fox News Digital ahead of the vote. “We need to say what is going to help lower the cost of health care now? That’s a more achievable goal and it’s doable, so I’m willing to vote for anything that can legally lower the cost of health care right now. So that’s where I’m going to start.”

In contrast to the Republican proposal that was blocked minutes ago, Senate Democrats’ plan would simply extend the expiring enhanced subsidies for three years.

As Obamacare subsidy fight approaches deadline, Republicans accuse Democrats of creating affordability crisis

Senate Majority Leader John Thune criticized Senate Democrats’ Obamacare subsidy proposal as “clearly destined to fail.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

But the plan does not include several reforms requested by Republicans, such as measures to prevent fraud, income caps and stricter enforcement of Hyde Amendment language to prevent taxpayer dollars from funding abortions.

“Our bill is the only one with bipartisan support in Congress,” the Senate Minority Leader said. Chuck SchumerD.N.Y., said.

senate majority leader John ThuneRS.D. accused Democrats of not basing their proposals on reality.

“What (Schumer) said was the Democratic plan to lower health care costs is a fantasy,” Thune said. “That’s it. It’s just a fantasy.”

While neither side can agree on how to actually move forward with the health care plan, both sides recognize that time is running out to find a solution and that health care costs are soaring.

Senate Democrats push for Obamacare subsidy vote ‘doomed to fail’, Republicans call plan unserious

“We don’t need to come up with a perfect plan,” Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley told Fox News Digital. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Democrats see subsidies as a quick fix to stop the bleeding, while Republicans seek broader, immediate reforms to start lowering health care costs.

Bipartisan talks have continued throughout the process, but they have also been hampered by Republican red lines on stricter enforcement of anti-abortion measures in the Obamacare deal, something that would be impossible for Democrats.

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Republican Senator John Hoeven predicted that both Republican and Democratic proposals would fail, but “hopefully this will allow us to continue to try to deliver some reforms while delivering aid.”

“But we can’t continue to send money to insurance companies and continue this runaway medical inflation and perpetuate the problem,” Hoving said.