The GOP tax plans are still being prepared with final proposals expected soon. While one of the plans will keep certain loopholes in place to protect golf course owners, the Senate GOP is throwing a wrench into the proceedings by adding a provision to their tax bill that will repeal the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act.
“We’re optimistic that inserting the individual mandate repeal would be helpful,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) told reporters:
Republicans had up until Tuesday resisted making the change, worried that injecting health care politics would imperil the tax bill. But many of their members have supported adding the repeal, which President Trump has suggested repeatedly.
Repealing the health care provision would free up more than $300 billion in government funding over the next decade, but it would also eventually lead to 13 million fewer people having health insurance, according to projections from the Congressional Budget Office.
Sen. John Thune (R-SD) added that the repeal of the mandate would allow the tax plan to pay for cuts for middle class families. He was joined by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who apparently spearheaded the amendment to the bill to repeal the individual mandate. While the plans would lower taxes for many, “Nonpartisan analysts have concluded millions would pay higher taxes, particularly if they lived in states such as New York, New Jersey, and California.”
Previous attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act have been blocked by defections by Republicans in the Senate, which could easily come into play when it’s time to vote on the tax bill as well. However, the House hasn’t agreed to include the individual mandate repeal yet.
(Via Washington Post)