The District of Columbia would be blocked from fining people who do not have health insurance under a bill passed Thursday in the House.
The House voted 217-199 to block the nation’s capital from imposing an “individual mandate,” a portion of Obamacare that carries a fine that will be zeroed out beginning in 2019.
Congressional Republicans gutted the fine as part of the tax bill that President Trump signed into law late last year. The mandate was intended to act as an impetus for people to buy health insurance who would otherwise choose not to do so, as a way to keep prices at bay for those who buy coverage.
It remained unpopular among the public, however, and even its supporters said it should have been stronger in order to be more effective at encouraging more people to enroll.
New Jersey and Vermont have passed laws to replace the mandate beginning in 2020. A mandate in Massachusetts that was law before Obamacare also has stayed in place.
The District of Columbia mandate is set to begin in 2019 under a budget passed in June. D.C.’s penalty will not be the same as Obamacare’s, which was set at $695 a year or 2.5 percent of income, whichever is higher. Instead, it would be decided each year by Sept. 30.
Health policy experts warned that premiums would rise without it and that insurers would flee the exchanges. Early estimates show that certain states are expecting double-digit increases in the prices of premiums, while others are in the single digits, but insurers are either staying in the market or expanding.
