Details of two House bills to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act are emerging. The committees began markup of the bills on Wednesday. If the bills are passed by the committees, they are expected to be combined into one bill by the House Budget Committee. Then they would go to the House Rules Committee before going to the full House for deliberation and a vote.
This legislation would not repeal the ACA’s insurance reforms. So many of the provisions of the ACA would remain, such as the requirements to cover adult children up to age 26, cover preexisting conditions, require caps on out-of-pocket expenditures, and prohibit lifetime and annual limits.
This legislation would eliminate most of the ACA’s taxes. So the individual and employer mandate penalties, the additional Medicare surtax (0.9% on wages over $200,000 single or $250,000 joint), and the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax would be history.
The legislation includes some new provisions. Some of these provisions would offer tax credits ranging from $2,000 – $4,000 annually (starting to phase out at income of $75,000 for single and $150,000 for joint), encourage individuals to maintain health insurance coverage by allowing insurers to impose a 30% surcharge for those who have a gap between health plans, eliminate the $2,500 limit on flexible spending accounts, increase deductible contributions to health savings accounts, and reinstate the 7.5% (rather than 10%) limit on medical expense deductions.
Be on the alert for more information on possible changes to the ACA provisions.