Draft ACA Repeal Bill Leaked

Draft legislative language that would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was leaked last week. House Republicans wrote the language, which is the first glimpse of efforts to repeal and replace the ACA.

This legislation, expected to begin moving through the committee process as early as next week, would dispose of most of the ACA, including its subsidies and its Medicaid expansion. In place of the ACA subsidies, the draft legislation would provide tax credits based on age. The legislation would also repeal the individual mandate as well as all of the ACA’s tax provisions, including the “Cadillac” tax.

In order to pay for parts of this new health care plan, Republicans would replace the “Cadillac” tax by capping the employee tax exemption for employer-sponsored health insurance at the 90^th percentile of current premiums. That means benefits above the capped level would be taxed.

Capping this exemption is a direct tax increase on employees and their health care. The Big “I” believes that doing so will increase health care costs for millions of Americans and increase the number of uninsured people.

The employer-sponsored health care system is stable, efficient and effective in covering more than 177 million Americans—leading to better health outcomes, lower costs and more satisfied employees. Employers are the foundation of a health care system that provides quality health coverage, and this coverage should be the basis of any health care reform solution.

As Congress seeks to stabilize the individual market, the Big “I” believes it should avoid destabilizing the employer-sponsored system which covers 10 times more Americans.

Wyatt Stewart is Big “I” senior director of federal government affairs.