Here are five things to know about tax cuts under the GOP-proposed ACA replacement plan.
1. The Republican plan would kill a 3.8 percent investment tax that was used to help finance the ACA and a 0.9 percent surcharge on wages in excess of $250,000, according to the report.
2. The bill was released without a score from the Congressional Budget Office, which some say indicates that Republicans are worried about backlash after the public learns how many people could be affected by changes in coverage. Despite the lack of a cost estimate, budget forecasters previously estimated that cutting the two taxes would cost more than $300 billion over the following decade, reports Politico.
3. The Tax Policy Center estimates that nixing the two taxes would save the top 0.1 percent of earners $195,000 a year, according to the report.
4. The replacement bill would also undo various other tax increases and penalties under the ACA, including levies on medical devices, payers and pharmaceutical companies. It would also eliminate limitations on flexible spending and health savings accounts, according to the report. Notably, the bill seeks to eliminate the individual mandate, which imposes penalties on individuals for not obtaining healthcare coverage.
5. Not all taxes under the ACA are disappearing under the Republican replacement plan, though. Despite the debate and largely bipartisan disapproval of the “Cadillac tax,” a 40 percent excise tax on expensive employer-sponsored health plans, House Republicans propose to keep the tax but delay its onset to 2025. Currently, the Cadillac tax is set to come into effect in 2020.
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