House Votes to Repeal Obamacare Tax Once Seen as Key to Health Law

[FormerOstrich]

Source: MSN

WASHINGTON — In the heat of the legislative fight over the Affordable Care Act, Obama administration officials argued that including a steep tax on high-cost health insurance plans would hold down soaring costs by prompting employers to rein in such plans and force employees to spend more of their own money on their care.

On Wednesday, that feature, once considered central to Obamacare, was dealt a blow by an unlikely foe: Democrats.

The House voted almost unanimously to repeal the tax, not only a key cost-containment provision in Barack Obama’s signature health law but also one of the main ways it was supposed to pay for itself.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/house-votes-to-repeal-obamacare-tax-once-seen-as-key-to-health-law/ar-AAEt0TD

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I don't understand this...I am hoping someone can explain. I am confused.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I'm guessing it's to take away one of the GOP's arguments

for trying (again) to repeal it.

[wiley]

2. It was a stupid tax

It worked as well as the Republican tax fraud scam recently passed. Oops! The Republican tax fraud scam didn't generate money, jobs or revenue sharing with non-stockholders, and now we have a huge deficit that Republicans want to take money from SS for.

[MichMan]

4. I think it was included originally to ensure that the costs were scored by the CBO under a trillion

Then it was never actually implemented. As I recall, the direct Student Loan program was also inserted into the ACA for similar reasons.

[rlegro]

6. On his first day in office, Trump...

signed an executive order banning the IRS from enforcing the individual mandate. Gee, I didn't know a president could unilaterally wipe out a law not only enacted, but which also survived a Supreme Court case.

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2017/02/16/442006.htm

[VarryOn]

8. Presidential executive orders need to be dealt with by Congress...

They're not a good way to run things. Even if you get a good one, it's easily done away with by the next administration.

[cstanleytech]

5. I suspect they are doing it to put the heat under the Repugnants and Trump mainly as he and the

other Repugnants were using it to rally their base.
Now with it out the way Trump will be forced even more to present his better than Obamacare plan and the Repugnants will be forced to support him or suddenly find a spine and choose to buck him.

[customerserviceguy]

7. If I recall correctly

the so-called Cadillac tax would be dealt with by a conference committee. Then, Scott Brown got elected to Teddy Kennedy's seat, so the House had to swallow the bill that had passed the Senate, negating the conference committee. Now is the reckoning of that decision.