GOP takes aim at Obamacare to fund Medicare
Source: Reuters
GOP takes aim at Obamacare to fund Medicare
BY SUSAN CORNWELL
WASHINGTON Wed Mar 12, 2014 8:33pm EDT
(Reuters) - U.S. House Republicans said on Wednesday that they are pushing a plan to delay for five years the penalties for failing to buy health insurance under Obamacare, and to use the savings to spare doctors from a steep cut in Medicare payments.
Delaying until 2019 the financial penalty for not signing up for health insurance would slow down Obamacare signups and save the government billions of dollars that would otherwise be paid out in taxpayer subsidies to enrollees, the Republicans say, citing Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates.
Democrats derided the idea as a "poison pill." They complained that House Republicans have tried dozens of times to change or repeal Obamacare and now proposed another change to a bipartisan deal making a long-sought repair to the formula used to determine Medicare payments to physicians.
House Speaker John Boehner confirmed the Republican strategy when asked about it in a Capitol hallway. When a Reuters reporter noted that the Democratic-run Senate might not like the idea, Boehner said, "We'll see." The White House threatened to veto the legislation.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/13/us-usa-healthcare-mandate-idUSBREA2B1ZF20140313