Ways And Means Chairman Expects Strong Support For Mandate Repeal From House Republicans
The House and Senate will have to smooth out the differences between their tax bills, including what to do about the health law's individual mandate. Meanwhile, advocates are sounding the alarm over the ways the tax bill will threaten health care for Americans.
The Hill:
Chairman Expects 'Strong Support' Among House GOP For Mandate Repeal In Tax Bill
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) told reporters Tuesday that he expects most House Republicans will support repealing ObamaCare's individual mandate in tax legislation, as GOP senators did. "We'll be asking our members where do they want us to be on that position. I suspect there will be strong support," he said. (Jagoda, 12/5)
CQ HealthBeat:
House Republicans Grapple With Health Law Decisions in Tax Bill
Moderate House Republicans who voted against an overhaul of the health care law earlier this year are keeping quiet on the issue so far. Senate Republicans voted last week to roll back the individual mandate of the 2010 health care law as part of a major tax bill. The provision wasn’t in a House-passed measure, but it was in an overhaul of the health law that House Republicans passed earlier this year. (McIntire, 12/5)
The Hill:
House Conservatives Push For Repeal Of ObamaCare Mandate In Final Tax Bill
The Republican Study Committee (RSC), a group of conservative Republicans in the House, is pushing for tax reform to include a repeal of the individual insurance mandate. "Including language to repeal this harmful policy will return personal decisions about health care choices to patients, fulfilling a key promise we have made to the American people," the RSC wrote in a letter being circulated among members. (Hellmann, 12/5)
The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com:
GOP Tax Bills Threaten Health Care For Many In Pa., N.J., Advocates Say
Just months after Congress failed to repeal Obamacare, local advocates are now scrambling to decipher what the GOP tax overhaul plans could mean for the health care of seniors, children and the disabled. The verdict of the (overwhelmingly Democratic) advocates is grim. The Senate tax bill, which dumps the penalty for those who don’t buy health insurance, will swell the ranks of the uninsured. So much so that more than 1,000 Pennsylvania residents a year could die unnecessarily, they declared Tuesday. Nearly 387,000 tax filers in New Jersey could be in dire straits under the House version, which eliminates the itemized deduction for medical expenses. (Sapatkin, 12/5)
