It's a scramble in Washington, D.C., as lawmakers sprint to come up with a plan to avoid major premium increases for Affordable Care Act customers. The enhanced subsidies used by millions are set to expire at the end of the year.

On Thursday, Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said he was readying a plan that would extend that subsidies for two years. A big piece of his legislation comes with an income cap.   

"Why don't we take that pot of money that's going to the higher income earners, and bolster the amount of money that's going to the lower- and middle-income earners," said the congressman who represents Bucks and parts of Montgomery County. "That's something we could all agree to."

Fitzpatrick said the income cap would be 700% of the federal poverty level, around $225,000 for a family of four. Also included is access to health savings accounts, a pitch floated by several Republicans. And it does not put restrictions on abortion, with Fitzpatrick saying he didn't feel this was the place "to be litigating that."

The GOP congressman said he's been working with a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House and Senate, with input from the White House, to craft the proposal. It's something he believes threads the needle of diverging plans and brings relief to impacted Americans.

"Can't say they agree with everything we're doing, but that's kind of the whole point, right? This is supposed to be a compromise," Fitzpatrick said. "As we say, we'd rather get 80% of something than 100% of nothing. We're not going to allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good here."

The ACA subsidies have been a long and contentious fight, and were at the crux of this year's 43-day federal government shutdown. But the issue was left unresolved and forced lawmakers to work against an end-of-the-year deadline to resolve it.

Fitzpatrick said time is ticking, and lawmakers need to approve a fix.

"The alternative is catastrophic. And that is that nothing gets done and premiums shoot up," Fitzpatrick said.

The increases could be drastic, and they depend on your age and how much you make.

The Kaiser Family Foundation broke down how much of a monthly spike people on the Benchmark Silver Plan could see. According to their findings, a 40-year-old individual in Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Delaware making $32,000 a year could see their premium rise from $58 to $180.

But the major impacts will likely be seen by older Americans.

According to the same data, a 60-year-old couple in Bucks County making $85,000 per year could see their monthly premium rise from $602 to $1,815. The same couple in Camden County could see a spike from $602 to $2,427.

A survey released Thursday from KFF showed 25% of respondents would "very likely" go without health insurance if their premiums doubled.

"Millions of people throughout our nation will suffer if these ACA cuts take effect on January 1," said Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle, who represents parts of Philadelphia.

Boyle did not commit to one, single plan when speaking with CBS News Philadelphia Thursday, but said he's "open-minded" about several of the ideas that have been tossed around. He also signed on to a discharge petition, a legislative maneuver that would force a vote on an extension of the subsidies as is.

But Boyle said the biggest hang-up he sees right now is a lack of commitment from the White House and Republican leaders in Congress as to what they'll support.

"We have no commitment whatsoever from Speaker Mike Johnson to put any of these bills on the House floor," Boyle said. "We have the vast majority of Democrats supporting many different types of extensions. We really just need buy-in, however, from this White House and enough Republicans in both the House and Senate."

Thursday brought several other proposals to the forefront. Senate Democrats said they will bring up a three-year "clean" extension of the current enhanced subsidies in a planned vote for next week.

A group of bipartisan House lawmakers, including New Jersey Republican Jeff Van Drew and Pennsylvania Republican Ryan Mackenzie, introduced a framework called CommonGround 2025, which is similar to Fitzpatrick's. Part of this plan includes an income cap that would be set to 600% of the federal poverty level and holds off on health savings accounts until next year.

"I do not like the Affordable Care Act. I don't," Van Drew said. "But ladies and gentlemen, we have a responsibility. And right now, in the short term, people deserve to have their insurance."

Fitzpatrick said he hoped to introduce his legislation Thursday or early next week. But there's no guarantee it will be called up for a House vote. It's also unclear, with votes planned in the Senate, if any can reach the 60-vote threshold to pass.

With time running short, lawmakers were unsure something would be decided by the deadline.

"Well that's going to depend on whether there's 218 in the House and 60 in the Senate that are serious about doing their jobs and taking care of their constituents," Fitzpatrick said.

"I continue to hold out hope," Boyle said. "Although, at this moment, I'd say I'm more pessimistic than optimistic."

Deadlines to sign up for ACA health plans (Pennie in Pennsylvania, Get Covered NJ in New Jersey, and Healthcare.gov in Delaware) are also fast approaching. 

Dec. 15 is the last day to enroll to have your coverage begin on Jan. 1. Jan. 15th is the end of open enrollment for most places, and after that people would need to qualify for a special enrollment period. New Jersey's enrollment period is extended to Jan. 31.