Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Republicans Consider Keeping ACA's Unpopular Tax On Wealthy
Senate Republican leaders considered keeping one of former President Barack Obama's big tax increases on wealthier Americans and using the money to fatten proposed subsidies for the poor in a bid Thursday to placate moderate GOP lawmakers and salvage their struggling health care bill. (Fram, 6/29)
Republican negotiations over how to overhaul the Affordable Care Act centered sharply Thursday on a divisive and ideological question: How much money should the Senate health-care bill spend on protecting vulnerable Americans, and how much on providing tax relief to the wealthy? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in an effort to strike a balance between centrists and conservatives, is now making concessions to both factions of his caucus, according to lawmakers and aides. (Snell, Eilperin and Sullivan, 6/29)
The details of which taxes would be scaled back and by how much haven't been officially released, but The Washington Post reported that Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was rewriting the bill to preserve a tax on investment income for families that made more than $250,000 a year or individuals who made more than $200,000. Over a decade, that tax is projected to add up to $172 billion by the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation. (Johnson, 6/29)
Leaving the tax in place would give Republicans two potential benefits as they try to put together a health-care bill that can attract 50 of their 52 members. First, it provides up to $172 billion Republicans can use to make health insurance more affordable to low-income households. Second, it could blunt attacks from Democrats that their bill undermines health care for the many in exchange for tax cuts for a few. (Rubin and Hughes, 6/29)
Senate Republicans are considering dropping a tax break for the wealthy from their ObamaCare repeal bill as they seek to secure 50 votes for the legislation. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) on Thursday said the bill would be changed to increase the subsidies that help lower-income people afford health insurance. The most likely way for that to happen is by keeping a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for high earners, Corker said. (Weixel, 6/29)
