House Republicans on Monday urged congressional leaders to include the repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty in the final version of the tax bill.
“Including language to repeal this harmful policy will return personal decisions about healthcare choices to patients, fulfilling a key promise we have made to the American people,” nearly 70 House Republicans wrote in a letter to leading negotiators of the tax bill, called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. They called the individual mandate the “worst example of the federal government violating individual freedom and liberty.”
The Senate version of the bill includes the repeal of the individual mandate penalties, which require Americans to buy insurance or pay a fine. The House did not include the repeal it its version because House leaders were concerned at the time that the Senate wouldn’t be able to pass it, citing failed attempts by the upper chamber this summer.
The details of the final bill must be hashed out in conference and then voted on again before heading to President Trump, who supports repealing the mandate penalties. It’s not clear whether it can continue to garner the support it needs. For instance, the support of one centrist Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, is contingent on the Senate also passing legislation that would fund a reinsurance program for Obamacare as well as insurer funds that allow them to offer lower out-of-pocket costs to customers. It’s not apparent that the House will pass these two spending mechanism.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that 13 million more people would become uninsured if the mandate penalties were repealed.
But House Republicans took issue with those projections in their letter. “This raises an important question: If Obamacare provides Americans with great health insurance, why would they have to be forced to purchase it?” they asked.
CBO is reassessing its methodology, and Standard & Poor’s has projected that 5 million or fewer people would be enrolled in coverage. Health insurance companies object to the mandate’s repeal without an alternative impetus, such as a waiting period and have said, without it, they would withdraw from the exchanges or raise premiums.
Republicans hope to pass their tax bill before Christmas.
