I’m not sure there was any Republican running for office in 2016 that didn’t promise to repeal, replace, or alter the Affordable Care Act.
Assuming this comes to fruition there is a long list of tax code provisions that could be eliminated or changed to some degree.
The following is a list of tax provisions designed to help fund the Affordable Care Act (although not necessarily all inclusive):
- The individual mandate: Go for part of the year without health insurance and there is a chance an additional tax will result.
- Employer mandate: An additional business tax results
- If you employ more than 50 people
- Fail to provide affordable health insurance coverage,
- When employees obtain insurance on the exchange that qualifies for a tax credit
- Starting in 2020 a 40% tax on Cadillac health insurance plans takes effect.
- Earned income in excess of $200,000 single or $250,000 joint was subject a .9% tax.
- Net investment income was subject to 3.8% tax when income exceeded $200,000 single or $250,000 joint.
Could these provisions of the code go away? It is possible, but there are provisions of the Affordable Care Act that are popular. For example: insurance availability for individuals with pre-existing conditions and coverage on the parent policy for children 26 years old and younger.
Can we repeal all the items we don’t like while keeping the items that seem like a good idea?
Can it repeal them without running the budget deficit even higher?
All this will bear watching.
