NTU urges all Senators to vote “YES” on the McConnell “wraparound” substitute amendment to H.R. 3762, the “Restoring America’s Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act,” as well as final passage of the reconciliation package. Together,this effort will dismantle critical components of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), relieving taxpayers of some of the most harmful provisions of this disastrous legislation.
The original legislation passed by the House would eliminate the individual and employer mandates, repeal the 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices, and repeal the Prevention and Public Health slush-fund. The McConnell substitute builds on this foundation to further repeal all tax hikes associated with the original PPACA legislation, giving taxpayers a $1.2 trillion tax cut, as well as repealing Medicaid expansion, premium tax credits, and cost-sharing subsidies after two years.
Implementing this repeal package would cut to the core of PPACA. The individual mandate, which forces people to buy a product, is especially repugnant to taxpayers and about to become even harder to bear. Without Congressional action, the penalty for noncompliance jumps to $2,085 per family or 2.5 percent of household income, whichever is greater. This unfairly forces many families to choose between paying costly premiums (and even higher deductibles) and the individual mandate tax.
Similarly, without Congressional action, the employer mandate and numerous other taxes will continue to hurt job growth and economic investment, further compromising our already imperiled economic prosperity.
The McConnell substitute is also to be commended for its commonsense approach to repealing a costly new entitlement, never an easy task. By delaying repeal of the Medicaid expansion and other premium support subsidies for two years, the provision ensures minimal disruption to the current health care marketplace while starting the clock on the implementation of more sustainable, affordable, and truly patient-focused reform.
Roll call votes on the McConnell wraparound substitute and final passage of H.R. 3762 will be heavily weighted in our annual Rating of Congress and a “YES” vote will be considered the pro-taxpayer position.
In addition, as always, NTU will be closely following other roll call votes in the reconciliation process, such as amendments that could help or harm taxpayers, and will weigh those accordingly in our annual Rating.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Federal Affairs Manager Nan Swift at (703) 683-5700