News & Insight's Daniel Pyne reports on the update on Obamacare and the fact that the Republicans have agreed in a narrow final vote of 217 to 213 to repeal it.
The Republican's have a slim majority vote of 52 - 48...Now it's time to see what the Senate's response will be.
What are the changes and what's staying the same?
The American Health Care Act, in its current form, would repeal 14 of the 21 taxes and other
devices in the bill to fund the system created by the ACA, these include:
The employer mandate
The individual mandate
A 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services
A 2.3 percent sales tax on medical devices
A limit on the ability to purchase over-the-counter medication with HSAs, Archer MSAs, and FSAs
An increase in the penalty for improper withdrawal of funds from HSAs and Archer MSAs.
A limitation on the use of FSAs as part of cafeteria plans.
A tax on health insurance providers
A tax on pharmaceutical companies
The Net Investment Income Tax which adds a 3.8 percent surtax on capital gains, dividends, interest, from households with over $250,000.
The Additional Medicare Tax which creates a 0.9 percent surtax on wages and salaries earned by households with over $250,000 for couples filing jointly
A limit on the deductibility of salaries paid to health insurance executives
A limitation on the ability of businesses to deduct expenses subsidized by Medicare Part D.
A rule that households may only deduct medical expenses over 10 percent of their income. The bill would return this threshold to 7.5 percent of household income.
However, the House Republicans healthcare bill would leave the following in place:
The Cadillac Tax, a 40 percent excise tax on high-cost healthcare plans, but it is delayed from 2018 to 2025.
The proper implementation of the economic substance doctrine, a long-standing common law rule intended to discourage tax evasion.
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Fee (PCORI), a fee on to fund a federal research center that was originally set to expire in 2019.
Requirements on tax-exempt hospitals
Requirements on Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations that receive tax benefits
A requirement that employers report the value of health benefits on their employees’ W-2
Read the full article at News & Insights