$1 Trillion in Obamacare Taxes Eliminated by House Action
The elusive effort to repeal and replace Obamacare still has a long way to go in the Senate. In the meantime, the Washington spin cycle will be operating on high. But American Experiment’s Peter Nelson reminds us that Congress really has no choice but to act swiftly in order to avert a market meltdown.
Getting this bill passed was a critical first step in saving health coverage for the millions of Americans who are experiencing the collapse of the individual health insurance market under the weight of Obamacare’s regulations.
Several state insurance markets are in the throes of a death spiral—a situation where a market implodes after cycles of rising premiums prompt healthy people to abandon the market, leaving behind an unsustainably sick and expensive pool.
Americans for Tax Reform also cuts through the noise over the passage of the American Health Care Act. The tax watchdog has compiled an impressive list of the more than $1 trillion in Obamacare taxes eliminated in the House bill. It’s a long list, but worth the read.
-Abolishes the Obamacare Individual Mandate Tax which hits 8 million Americans each year.
-Abolishes the Obamacare Employer Mandate Tax. Together with repeal of the Individual Mandate Tax repeal this is a $270 billion tax cut.
-Abolishes Obamacare’s Medicine Cabinet Tax which hits 20 million Americans with Health Savings Accounts and 30 million Americans with Flexible Spending Accounts. This is a $6 billion tax cut.
-Abolishes Obamacare’s Flexible Spending Account tax on 30 million Americans. This is a $20 billion tax cut.
-Abolishes Obamacare’s Chronic Care Tax on 10 million Americans with high out of pocket medical expenses. This is a $126 billion tax cut.
-Abolishes Obamacare’s HSA withdrawal tax. This is a $100 million tax cut.
-Abolishes Obamacare’s 10% excise tax on small businesses with indoor tanning services. This is a $600 million tax cut.
-Abolishes the Obamacare health insurance tax. This is a $145 billion tax cut.
-Abolishes the Obamacare 3.8% surtax on investment income. This is a $172 billion tax cut.
-Abolishes the Obamacare medical device tax. This is a $20 billion tax cut.
-Abolishes the Obamacare tax on prescription medicine. This is a $28 billion tax cut.
-Abolishes the Obamacare tax on retiree prescription drug coverage. This is a $2 billion tax cut.
The checklist serves as a grim reminder of the catastrophic economic impact Obamacare has inflicted on many middle-class Americans subsidizing it. As AFT points out, “tens of millions of middle income Americans will get tax relief from Obamacare’s long list of tax hikes.” Not a bad start.