Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Effort To Find A Way Forward, McConnell Contemplates Retaining Obamacare Taxes
The Washington Post: McConnell May Be About To Break A Crucial GOP Promise On Obamacare
Last month, McConnell tried to advance a bill that would have cut future revenues by $700 billion over 10 years by eliminating a number of tax provisions in the ACA. This included a $172.2 billion cut over 10 years by repealing the “net investment tax” and another $58.6 billion by repealing the Medicare Tax Increase. Both of those tax cuts would primarily benefit wealthier Americans. The 3.8 percent net investment tax applied to capital gains and other investments for individuals making more than $200,000 in annual income or married couples making more than $250,000. (Paletta and Ehrenfreund, 7/11)
The Associated Press: New GOP Health Bill Likely Keeping Obama Tax Boosts On Rich
A revised Senate Republican health care bill will likely retain a pair of tax boosts President Barack Obama imposed on wealthier Americans that have helped finance his law's expansion of coverage, a leading Senate Republican said Tuesday. (7/11)
Bloomberg: GOP Drops Tax Cuts For Big Earners In Revised Health Bill, Sources Say
Senate Republican leaders dropped provisions that would repeal two taxes on high earners in a revised draft of their health-care bill sent to the Congressional Budget Office, according to GOP senators. Republican leaders are now planning to retain Obamacare’s 3.8 percent tax on net investment income for people who earn more than $200,000 and couples with incomes over $250,000, as well as a 0.9 percent Medicare surtax on the same incomes. (Litvan and Dennis, 7/11)
The Associated Press: GOP Health Bill: Benefit Cuts For Poor, Tax Cuts For Rich
America's poorest families would lose thousands of dollars in health benefits so that millionaires could get huge tax cuts under the Senate Republicans' health bill, according to an independent analysis released Tuesday. (7/11)
The Washington Post: The GOP Health Bill Would Cut Benefits For Very Poor Households By An Average Of $2,500 A Year, Economists Say
The typical household with more than $200,000 a year in income would pay $5,500 less annually in taxes under the recent plan put forward by GOP senators. By contrast, households earning less than $10,000 a year would lose out on an average of about $2,600 in federal benefits annually, according to the analysis published Tuesday by the nonpartisan Urban Institute and Brookings Institution. (Ehrenfreund, 7/11)
