PrintBill that would gut Obamacare would save half a trillion over next decade
A bill that would repeal nearly all Obamacare taxes and mandates will save the taxpayer more than $500 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
This is more than originally thought because Republicans successfully delayed the medical devices tax and the "Cadillac Tax" for several years.
Legislation to gut most of ObamaCare's mandates and taxes, known as Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, would reduce the deficit by $516 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The bill is expected to get a vote in the House this week, and it has already been approved by the Senate. President Obama has said he would veto the bill.
The CBO had previously said the bill would reduce deficits by $474 billion, but the estimates have been reduced in light of the recently enacted governing spending bill. That funding bill, which has already been signed by Obama, delays three key healthcare taxes, which each would have brought billions in revenues.
As part of a congressional deal reached on the spending bill, the so-called Cadillac tax on high-cost healthcare plans is delayed for two years and the medical device tax and the health insurance "premium" tax are paused for two years and one year, respectively.
Republicans are looking to pass their latest bill targeting ObamaCare through a budget process known as reconciliation. Under the Senate’s rules, a party that controls both chambers can pass legislation with a simple majority, sending a bill gutting ObamaCare to the president’s desk for the first time.
That number is somewhat deceiving, because there will almost certainly be an effort to pass some kind of health insurance reform. How much it will cost and what it will include are unknown at this time. There are several plans floating around on the Hill, but Republicans have been unable to come to any kind of an agreement.
The key to this vote was getting a budget bill passed. Once that happened, reconciliation came into play – the first time since Obamacare was passed and Republicans were in the majority. Of course, there aren't the votes to override the president's veto, but the path forward for the people to take back control of their health insurance options has been cleared.
