WASHINGTON — The effort to delay huge increases in insurance premiums for homeowners in flood-prone areas faces a skeptical House chairman who is largely standing behind the changes Congress oversaw in the nation’s flood insurance program less than two years ago.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, wants “free-market alternatives” to the government-run program, says his spokesman, David Popp.

Hensarling and other top House Republicans aren’t inclined to back away from changes meant to deal with a program that is $24 billion in the red after bailing out at-risk homeowners whose flood insurance has been subsidized by taxpayers and other policyholders for decades.

Increasing tensions over the issue is a 67-32 bipartisan vote Thursday in the Senate to delay some, but not all, of the changes approved in 2012.

“These drastic increases will act as a de facto eviction notice for homeowners who have lived in their homes and played by the rules their entire lives,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who supported holding off the rate increases. “That’s going to drive down property values as the housing market is struggling to recover.”

In many cases the changes in the flood insurance program produced unexpected, sky-high insurance rates that are unaffordable for many homeowners in flood-prone areas whose insurance has historically been subsidized by the government and other policyholders.

The Senate bill would put off for up to four years huge premium increases that are supposed to phase in next year and beyond under new and updated government flood maps. It also would allow homeowners to pass below-cost policies on to people who buy their homes.