The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has caused damage to the economy and raised the cost of health care for millions of Americans. Congressional Republicans have begun the process of repealing the law, though doing so may require passage of several pieces of legislation. One of the first bills expected to reach President Trump’s desk is a budget reconciliation package. This will repeal a good portion of Obamacare, but due to procedural rules, it will primarily contain measures with a direct fiscal impact on the federal budget. This is the best opportunity to scrap all of the law’s tax hikes, which total about $1 trillion. Getting rid of this long list of tax increases must be one of the top priorities of Congress.
Here’s an overview of Obamacare taxes:
- Individual mandate
- “Cadillac tax,” a 40 percent excise tax on high-cost insurance plans
- Health insurance tax
- Tanning tax
- 2.3 percent medical device tax
- Investment earnings tax
- Brand name prescription drug tax
- “Medicine cabinet tax,” which prohibits HSAs and FSAs from being used for over-the-counter drugs
- Chronic care tax
- Medicare payroll tax
- HSA tax
- Medical deduction limitation
- Employer mandate (applies to businesses with more than 50 employees)
- Part D deductibility