Senate Passes Tax Reform Bill Repealing the ACA Individual Mandate

The Senate recently passed a compressive tax reform bill that included a provision to repeal the ACA’s individual tax mandate. 

Senators voted 51-49 in favor of the tax bill’s approval, making it the first significant legislative change to the ACA to pass through the Senate since President Trump has taken office. Senator Bob Corker, (R-Tennessee) was the only Republican to vote against the tax reform bill. 

The individual mandate repeal is intended to take effect after December 31, 2018, which will result in a federal deficit reduction of $318 billion between 2018 and 2027, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

“Repealing the individual mandate simply restores to people the freedom to choose,” Senator Lisa Murkowski, (R-Alaska)—a holdout vote in previous Senate ACA repeal bills—wrote in an editorial. 

Managed care, physician, and hospital groups widely opposed the measure to repeal the ACA mandate, stating that it would increase premiums for patients who need care the most and ultimately decrease access to care. 

“We are… disappointed that the tax legislation passed with a provision that would eliminate the individual mandate, which would result in the loss of health insurance coverage for millions of Americans,” Rick Pollack, president and CEO American Hospital Association, said in a statement. “The goal of the ACA was to extend coverage and, as a result, millions have benefitted from access to needed care. We must protect that access to care for those who need it and ensure the most vulnerable patients are not left behind.”

The Senate bill kept certain medical taxes in place, such as the tax allowing patients to deduct health care expenses; however, it lowers the threshold for those expenses from 10% of gross income to 7.5%.

The bill will now be hammered out between Senate Republicans and House Republicans. A final version of the bill will likely still contain the ACA individual mandate repeal and will have to pass through the House and Senate before moving to President Trump’s desk. However, the House could adopt and vote on the Senate version, moving it directly to the President for approval.

—David Costill