Proposed Obamacare Repeal: Key Changes to Affordable Care Act Announced
In an ongoing effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), President Obama’s signature legislation, the House Ways and Means Committee and Energy and Commerce Committee released the American Health Care Act (Bill). The legislation was released by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR).
Outlined below are some of the more significant provisions addressed in the bill:
- Funding to Planned Parenthood would be cut.
- Both the individual shared responsibility and employer shared responsibility penalties would be eliminated, effective retroactively to January 1, 2016.
- Effective December 31, 2019, the current ACA rules requiring qualified health plans to provide certain benefits such as hospitalization and mental health services would be repealed.
- Medicaid expansion would be repealed effective December 31, 2019.
- The repeal of premium tax credits effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2019.
- Creation of a refundable tax credit to allow eligible individuals to purchase health insurance effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2020.
- Effective January 1, 2018, there will be no limit on the deductibility of compensation paid to executives of health insurance providers.
- Effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2018, a repeal of the health insurance provider fee which imposes a fee on each covered entity engaged in the business of providing health insurance for United States health risks.
- The effective date of the highly controversial Cadillac Tax will be further delayed until taxable years beginning after December 31, 2015.
- A decrease in the current 10% threshold for deductibility of medical expenses.
- Increase in maximum contribution limits to health savings accounts.
- Other taxes and fees under the current ACA rules and regulations including, but not limited to, the following would be repealed effective January 1, 2018:
- Medical device excise tax;
- Net investment income tax;
- Additional Medicare tax;
- Tanning tax;
- Tax on prescription medications; and
- Increase of tax on health savings accounts.
Two significant provisions of the current ACA were both retained in the Bill. These include dependents able to stay on their parents’ health plan until age 26 and insurance companies not having the ability to deny coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions.
Markups are set to begin Wednesday, March 8, 2017.
Continue checking back with the Trumponomics Think Tank section of https://www.withum.com/ for future updates.
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