A bipartisan effort to tweak part of Obamacare was marred Thursday by disputes over whether to pay for the legislative change.
Republicans and a number of Democrats want to ditch new restrictions on the use of tax-free accounts used to pay for health expenses imposed by the Affordable Care Act. Under the 2010 healthcare law, the accounts can only be used to pay for medications prescribed by a doctor, which excludes products like many allergy medications or aspirin.
“Now, if a mom wants to buy Claritin and use her flexible savings account, she has to go get a doctor’s prescription,” said Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
The House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill from Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., doing away with the restrictions. The measure was sponsored by three Democrats, but one of them — Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin — ultimately voted against it, saying he’s displeased Republicans didn’t find a way to pay for it.
The Congressional Budget Office has said the measure would cost $6 billion over a decade, since it would presumably encourage Americans with tax-free health accounts to put more money in them, thereby reducing tax revenue.
Kind said his only problem with the legislation was “the unwillingness or inability of this committee to work harder to find offsets to pay for these provisions.”
The legislation is one of several bills Republicans have passed to tweak or otherwise change parts of the Affordable Care Act. Some have gained the support of Democrats, but most have never made it into law.
Republicans often mention expanding the use of tax-free health accounts — typically known as Health Savings Accounts or Flexible Spending Accounts — as part of any proposals to reform the healthcare system. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who are the only two Republican presidential contenders to introduced detailed healthcare plans, have included proposals to encourage the use of such accounts.
