Rep. Mark Meadows sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday, pushing the panel to begin the process of passing a “full retroactive” repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate.
Though Congress included a repeal of the fines the uninsured were required to pay in its sweeping tax bill signed into law last year, that won’t take effect until 2019. The Republican from North Carolina is concerned that most Americans, some of whom may have already filed their tax returns for 2017, may not realize that they still face penalties if they don’t have health insurance in 2017.
“Americans are most successful when we allow them the kind of financial and economic security they deserve,” Meadows wrote. “However, the uncertainty surrounding Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty creates the exact opposite environment. Unfortunately, many Americans believe the mandate to be immediately repealed and no longer in effect, but will be surprised to learn that it still applies for both 2017 and 2018 tax returns. Congress must resolve this.”
Sent the following letter to the Approps Committee, requesting an immediate retroactive repeal of Obamacare’s individual mandate.
Many families will be surprised that the IRS still intends to enforce the mandate in 2017 and 2018 tax returns. The penalty should end immediately. pic.twitter.com/7mymdSGtm5
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) March 1, 2018
The individual mandate provision was one of the most unpopular parts of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and had previously withstood a Supreme Court battle as well as several repeal efforts in Congress. It charges $695 per adult, or 2.5 percent of income, whichever is higher.
Republicans in Congress sought to defang the mandate when they included it in their tax bill, which was passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law in December of last year.
Meadows, chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said the mandate “is a penalty that forces Americans to buy something they may not want or need, and its consequences hit the pocket books of low income Americans the hardest.”
As Congress begins the annual appropriations process, Meadows said he sent his formal request to the appropriations panel to “include a full repeal of the individual mandate for 2018 and retroactive to 2017 so that we can give American families relief from the mandate’s unnecessary burden.”
This week, 20 states filed a lawsuit against the federal government arguing that Obamacare was unconstitutional after the tax penalty was repealed.
